Sensex Today | Share Market Special Session Live Updates: Sensex, Nifty higher in second phase; Nestle top gainer

IDFC First Bank shareholders have approved the scheme of merger of IDFC Limited with the company. The NCLT had convened a meeting on 17 May to consider and approve the composite scheme of amalgamation for IDFC FIRST Bank.

Nestle India shareholders have voted down a proposal to raise royalty payments to its Swiss parent company, Nestle. The proposal aimed to increase the royalty from the current 4.5% of net sales, excluding taxes, to 5.25%, with an annual increment of 0.15%.

Around 70.8% of public shareholders opposed the increase, according to a filing.

JSW Steel on Friday reported a 64.54% fall in its consolidated net profit for the March quarter to ₹1,299 crore mainly due to higher coking coal prices.

The Sajjan Jindal-led company’s consolidated revenue from operations fell 1.5% year-on-year to ₹46,269 crore.

ONGC, Power Grid and Nestle were the best gainers on the Nifty in the second phase of the session, while JSW Steel, Divi’s Lab and Axis Bank were the laggards.

Sensex, Nifty in the green in second phase of special session, The benchmark Sensex ended marginally higher at 73,959.63 in the first part of the special trading session, while the Nifty 50 closed a tad higher at 22,481.90.

Smallcap stocks as a group have generated returns of over 50% on an annualized basis over the last six years, despite being prone to manipulation, according to a Mint analysis.

This is more than three times the returns generated by the group with the highest market capitalization. The analysis is based on m-cap data of over 2,400 listed companies as on 2 May 2018, which are segregated into seven different groups based on their size.

India is looking to fortify its imports of LNG, a crucial ingredient in industrial applications and partly in transportation, through long-term contracts with overseas exporters.

This week, state-run Indian Oil Corporation Ltd signed a long-term contract with French energy giant TotalEnergies in France for supply of LNG (liquefied natural gas), two people aware of the development said. Under the contract, TotalEnergies would supply 1 million metric tonne per annum (mmtpa) of LNG to IOCL for a period of around 10 years.

Looking to cut losses and return its wind turbine business to profitability by 2026, German energy major Siemens Energy AG has put the India wind turbine unit of its subsidiary, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, up for sale, two people aware of the development said.

The India business is said to have annual revenues of $700 million, and is being valued at $1 billion for the transaction, the people said.

Stocks of Indian firms that earn a large chunk of their revenues from the nation’s hinterland are showing signs of a revival, as traders bet that bountiful monsoon rains will lead to better crop yields and boost rural demand. (Bloomberg)

The Indian generic drugmaker’s net profit surged nearly fourfold to ₹11.82 billion in the March quarter on the back of a rise in its US. business and domestic market. Total revenue from operations increased by 10.4% to ₹55.34 billion.

Zee swung to a net profit of ₹13.35 crore for the quarter ended March, compared with a loss of ₹196 crore in the corresponding period last year. Total income increased 3% to ₹2,185 crore

Sensex is higher in pre-opening in Satrurday’s special session. Power Grid, HCL Tech, Sun Pharma best gainers. 

The Nifty 50 witnessed a volatile week with an intraday low made near the 21,800 zone to recover strongly to touch 22,500 levels to improve the bias and sentiment, as well as easing out as of now. The index would have near-term support in the 22,300 zone, while on the upside, we anticipate further moves ahead to 22,600–22,900 levels in the coming days.

Bank Nifty took support near the 47,000 zone, and witnessing a decent pullback to move past the significant 50EMA level of 47,700 zone has improved the bias, and further rises are anticipated. One can expect the next targets of 49,000 and 49,700 levels in the coming days, with 47,400 maintained as the near-term support level. The support for the day is seen at 22,300 levels, while the resistance is seen at 22,600 levels. Bank Nifty would have a daily range of 47,800–48,400 levels.

Parekh recommended three stocks for today — Grasim Industries Ltd, Paras Defence and Space Technologies Ltd, and IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd.

JSW Steel, Delhivery, IOC, Bandhan Bank, Zee are the stocks that are likely to be in news during the special live trading session on Saturday. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 40,000 for the first time. The S&P 500 increased by 6.17 points, or 0.12%, to reach 5,303.27, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped by 12.35 points, or 0.07%, to 16,685.97.

Earlier this week, data indicating softening consumer prices in April raised expectations that the U.S. central bank might cut rates twice this year, starting in September.

However, much will depend on future price pressures, and Fed officials have suggested that U.S. rates may not decrease anytime soon.

For the week, the Dow rose by 1.2%, the S&P 500 climbed by 1.5%, and the Nasdaq advanced by 2.1%.

The National Stock Exchange and the BSE will hold a special live trading session on Saturday to test their preparedness and resilience. This session will involve an intra-day switch from the primary site to the disaster recovery site for equity and equity derivative segments.