MarketBuzz
1234: Marketbuzz Podcast with Hormaz Fatakia: Vodafone Idea FPO opens, Infosys Q4 in focus
Good morning and welcome to CNBC TV18's Market Bus Podcast. I am Harmas Vitakia. We are back after midweek holiday but the global markets remain the same as we left them on Tuesday. While the US markets were choppy but steady on Tuesday night, the selloff resumed on Wednesday courtesy of mega cap tech stocks. The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ both fell for the fourth day in a row. The constant policy flip flops from the US Federal Reserve is not supporting the market in any form. Once guiding for three rate cuts this year, Fed Chair Jerome Powell now said that the Fed can keep policy rates steady for as long as needed. Market participants are now tempering down their rate cut bets from three earlier to two or even one for 2024. Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester also echoed Powell's sentiment saying that the Fed should not be in a rush to cut rates and that policy is currently working well. Whether that will impact the Indian markets or not is subjective but the last three days have not been anything but memorable for the markets. The NFTI has already given up 60% of the 1000-point rally that it has seen from the lows of the 20th of March. The NFTI Bank is also down 3.5% from record levels. Most near-down supports on the downside have been broken and it was also the first instance in three months that the NFTI fell for three days in a row. But a ray of hope comes from the chartists who believe that the index is nearing very critical supports of 22,000 and that coupled with oversold setups on the charts may trigger a short-term bounce. However, the trend remains negative as the index may first find resistance at 20-300 on the upside followed by 20-500. The other ray of hope comes from the broader markets while the NFTI and the NFTI Bank continue to grind lower the mid-cap index and it flat on Tuesday while the small-cap index fared even better ending with healthy gains. Specific stocks and sectors like FMCG, defense and pharma did well in an otherwise weak market. And most market participants are also advising to remain stock specific till the market stabilizes from this current round of choppiness. Today, of course, is also the weekly options expiry of the NFTI 50 contracts. The one pain point that has been playing the market though is IT. And since TCS is results, the sell-off in IT stocks has only intensified. Now, that along with more top-level exits at Vibro and LTI Mindtree has further start sentiment on technology stocks. The NFTI index even slipped below its 200-day moving average on Tuesday, something that it had not done in at least the last 6 months. All eyes today will be on Infosys and its 4th quarter results later this evening after market hours and the street will keenly await the management's guidance for FY25 and some demand trends on the ground. Speaking of specific stocks, the other major stock in focus today will be Vodafone idea, which has probably already become the stock of the week. The telecom operator's 18,000 crore FPO opens for subscription today. And ahead of that, the company has already raised nearly 6,000 crores from anchor investors and mutual funds. Some anchor investors include the likes of GQG, Morgan Stanley and Fidelity funds. The stock, though, is in the FNO ban today, so that will also be a factor. Z entertainment has decided to withdraw its application for the merger implementation against Sony in the NCLT but has vowed to continue to push its stance in the Singapore Arbitration Center. But the bigger news is that the stock will be excluded from the FNO segment post the conclusion of the June series expiry. The Adani group has completed the warrant subscription in Ambuja Sements, thereby infusing another 8,339 crore rupees in the company, thereby completing the 20,000 crore fund infusion exercise. Ambuja Sements intends to double its capacity to 140 MTPA by 2028. A side of Infosys also reporting results today are stocks like Bajaj Auto and HDFC Life, while stocks like Den Networks, Angel 1, ICICI Lombard and Tata Communications will react to their results that were reported after marketers. Also reacting to earnings and business updates will be stocks like Brigade Enterprises and SunTech Realty, so keep the overall real estate pack in focus as well. Jubilant Farmover has decided to shut down its operations at its solid dosage manufacturing facility in the US and change its business model from in-house manufacturing to outsourced manufacturing through USFBA approved contract manufacturing organizations. The company attributed this decision to an increasing pricing pressures in the US genetics market, and therefore the subsequent losses that the unit has been facing since FY22. By changing its business model, Jubilant Farmover intends to improve the gross margins of the US business and take it back to profitability. Additionally, it also plans to increase exports to the US market from its Roorkee facility, where the USFBA inspection recently closed. For the other stocks, in focus, do log in to cnbctv18.com. One must also take note of the NSC circular that was issued on Tuesday, which imposed an additional exposure margin of 15% in the equity derivative segment on securities in which the top 10 clients account for more than 20% of the market wide position limit. This framework will be effective from the 26th of April after the expiry of the April contracts. The Asian markets have opened mixed this morning, and while the Nikkai is down for the 4th day in a row, the Cosby is trading with gains. The gift nifty as we speak is indicating a slightly lower start again for our Indian markets. That's all for today. It's the penultimate day of the week, and the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls kickstart tomorrow. We'll bring you all the updates from that as well. But for a precursor to the polls and some key seats in focus for tomorrow, do log in to cnbctv18.com. We wish you a happy trading day ahead. [BLANK_AUDIO]