Market Closing: Sensex erases gains to end flat as banks & financials slip;

Indian benchmark indices Sensex and the Nifty ended flat on Tuesday after giving up most of the gains clocked during the day amid mixed global cues. Sensex ended at 71,386.21, up 31 points, while Nifty closed near the 21,550 level. Banks and financial stocks came under heavy selling pressure in the last hour of trade. Bank Nifty and financial indices fell 0.4% each. On the Sensex, L&T, Tata Motors and HCL Tech were the best gainers while Bajaj Finserv and Nestle were the top laggards. The rupee closed little changed at 83.11 against the US compared to its close at 83.13 in the previous session.

Over the past two years, the Indian hospitality industry has thrived on recovery trends, led by a surge in leisure demand in 2022 and a boom in corporate travel in 2023. This upswing resulted in impressive stock performance for hotel companies. For instance, in 2023, shares of The Indian Hotels Co. Ltd (IHCL), Lemon Tree Hotels Ltd, and Chalet Hotels Ltd witnessed gains of 38%, 40%, and 100%, respectively. (Read more)

A decline in U.S. consumer inflation expectations kept the dollar rally in check on Tuesday as traders reaffirmed their bets for a slew of Federal Reserve rate cuts this year.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin held near its strongest level since April 2022 on growing anticipation the Securities and Exchange Commission will imminently approve spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds. (Reuters)

The company has projected mid-twenties growth in the gross merchandise value of its beauty and personal care vertical, with a net sales value growth of approximately 20% on a year-on-year (YoY) basis.

We expect our capital goods coverage universe to report healthy performance in Q3FY24 led by 1) continued execution of strong opening order books, 2) robust demand/orders/volumes in domestic market, and 3) traction in key export markets such as Middle East, Americas, Africa etc. Overall, we expect Revenue/Adj. PAT growth of ~16.6%/22.0% YoY (13.5%/14.1% YoY ex-L&T). Margin guidance, European demand outlook, order/enquiry pipeline and impact of elections on domestic demand/orders will be key monitorables. Our top picks are L&T, Siemens, ABB, Triveni Turbine, and Praj Industries.

Order inflows (OI) likely to be strong in Q3FY24, owing to substantial order wins announced by companies like BEL/L&T/KEC/KPIL across segments such as Defence, T&D, Water, Hydrocarbons, Railways, Green Energy, etc. During the quarter, L&T announced OI in range of Rs535-820bn, while T&D EPC companies such as KEC/Kalpataru announced healthy OI worth ~Rs39bn/~Rs45bn respectively. BEL announced robust inflows worth ~Rs122bn. Government orders may be delayed during the upcoming elections, but the long-term outlook remains strong across T&D, Railways, Data Centers, Defence etc. especially in India.

Product/consumables companies’ revenue to grow by ~11.0% YoY, led by strong growth in the domestic market. EBITDA margins for most product companies are likely to be stable owing to rising volumes offset by falling realizations and higher operating expenses. Within product companies, we expect Consumables to report ~4.1% YoY growth, (CUMI -1.4% YoY & GWN 15.0% YoY) factoring in healthy industrial demand offset by lower realizations due to Chinese dumping of Ceramics and Electrominerals.

EPC companies’ revenue to grow ~19.4% YoY led by healthy execution of robust opening order books. EBITDA margins are likely to expand with softening commodity prices and better mix.