After the previous week's massive slowdown in the markets across the globe, major global indices showed recovery during this week. However Indian markets remained muted as they were dragged down by major banks 

On February 1, 2018, the Finance Minister of India presented the Union Budget 2018-19. The stock market reacted in its own way and BSE Sensex was down by 2.13 percent to 35,501.74 from 36256.83 on the same day. In the last 15 days, the market has corrected gradually by almost 1,200 points and closed at 34,297.47 on February 15, 2018.

While all attentions glared at the dauntingly massive scam of PNB involving Nirav Modi, media reports about another scam in the financial markets surfaced on Friday, involving power transmission and distribution company Diamond Power Infrastructure.

The last three days were disappointing for Punjab National Bank (PNB). Post the discovery of the Rs. 11,000 crore scam, the stock of PNB has fallen more than 20 per cent in the last three trading sessions

After witnessing a fall in the AUM in December 2017, Indian mutual industry saw growth in January, primarily helped by inflow in liquid and money market category.

Following stocks are close to their 52-week low as at 1.12 p.m. on February 16.

The markets on February 16 opened up. BSE Sensex is trading at 34,191.12, down by 106.35 points and the Nifty is trading at 10,510.20, down by 35.30 points. 

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has successfully commissioned the 18 MW Mukerian Hydro-Electric Project (HEP) Stage-II in Punjab, with the commissioning of the second 9 MW hydro generating unit.

IT major Infosys announced on Thursday that the UCAS, an admissions service for UK higher education extended its partnership with Infosys until 2021 in order to support its business strategy.

Indoco Remedies zoomed close to 7 per cent on the bourses in Friday morning trade after the company announced receiving a certification for its Goa plant.

The share price of Future Consumer surged by over 4 per cent on the bourses during Friday’s trading session as the company announced that it has allotted non-convertible debentures worth Rs. 150 crore.

Overall volumes in futures & options currently stand at 1.59 crore contracts with a turnover of Rs. 14,98,474.07 crore.

Overall volumes in futures & options currently stand at 1.59 crore contracts with a turnover of Rs. 14,98,474.07 crore.

Mahindra & Mahindra Limited announced plans to invest in Zoomcar India, a Bengaluru-based self-drive mobility company. 

With the massive market crash, mutual fund industry also witnessed a drop-in returns. However post the market crash in the last week ending on February 14, 2018 we have seen a surge in the NAVs of the small cap and Mid cap schemes.

We believe, if any directional movement has to come, then Nifty should give a decisive breakout from the range of 10640–10400. Until then, the index will continue to consolidate in the broad range of 10,400-10,640.  Top stocks to watch out today: Mahindra and Mahindra, Idea Cellular, Future Consumer, 8K Miles, IDBI Bank, India Grid Trust, HDFC, Infosys, Prakash Industries and Indoco Remedies.

Key benchmark indices are expected to open with modest gains. The SGX Nifty indicating that the Nifty could open higher by 31 points around 10,588 at the opening bell.  

The stocks that are likely to witness significant movement on the bourses on February 16, 2018 are Yes Bank Limited, Wockhardt Limited, IDBI Bank Limited, Skipper Limited and Infosys Limited.  

The PAT for the quarter came in at Rs 13.7 crore, a decline of 12.7 per cent YoY. This was due to absence of other income in the quarter as against Rs 7.6 crore in corresponding quarter of last year. 

Its PAT for the quarter came in at Rs 7.92 crore, an increase of 88.6% YoY. This was due to substantial increase in other income to Rs. 4.36 crore as against Rs. 0.75 crore in the corresponding quarter of last year. 

Its EBITDA for the quarter rose by 16.9 per cent YoY to Rs 9.01 crore with a corresponding margin contraction of 814 bps. The EBITDA margin for the quarter stood at 29.7 per cent. This margin contraction was due to jump in employee benefit expenses and project expenses by 86.9 per cent YoY and 64.3 per cent YoY, respectively.

The company’s PAT came in at Rs 7 crore, representing 18 per cent sequential increase and 138 per cent YoY increase. 

Its EBITDA for the quarter rose by 4.9 per cent YoY to Rs 32.74 crore, with a corresponding margin contraction of 113 bps. The EBITDA margin for the quarter stood at 10.1 per cent. This margin contraction was led by 38 per cent YoY jump in the cost of materials.

Global markets are in a risk-off mode currently, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average tanking 1,500 points on a single day. This is the first time ever that the Dow had lost so much on a single day in its over 100 years of chequered history. Back home, the man at the helm of the world's fastest stock exchange- Bombay Stock Exchange, Ashish Kumar Chauhan is not a worried man at all as he believes volatility is an inherent trait of equity markets.

Following stocks are close to their 52-week low as at 12.36 p.m. on February 15.

The markets on February 15 opened up. BSE Sensex is trading at 34,389.77, up by 233.82 points and the Nifty is trading at 10,572.95, up by 72.05 points.

Present rate continuous for the next financial year 2018-19. However, it is proposed to increase the education cees of 3% to 4% under the new name of “Health & Education Cess”

In a blacklash to Fortis Healthcare, ratings agency CARE Ratings downgraded its ratings on borrowings worth Rs 853 crore on Wednesday.

In a country which dominantly resides in the rural region and has over 58 per cent of the rural households dependent on agriculture for livelihood, the agriculture sector becomes instrumental for development of the economy. At current prices, about 20.4 per cent of the gross value added in 2016-17 was contributed by the primary sector, including agriculture, livestock, forestry and fishery. 

The share price of Cox & Kings surged by over 8 per cent on the bourses in Thursday’s trade session following the announcement of its financial results for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2018 on Wednesday. 

Aegis Group is a key player in India’s downstream oil and gas sector. Aegis Logistics Ltd (AEG), its flagship company, is a leading oil, gas and chemical logistics company.

Indian stock markets seemed to have halted at the lower levels with the effect of the Union Budget 2018-19 petering out by now, followed by the overall weakness in the global markets.

The scrips in this column have been recommended with a 15-day investment horizon in mind and carry high risk. Therefore, investors are advised to take into account their risk appetite before investing, as fundamentals may or may not back the recommendations.

This section gives a recommendation of a stock having stock price below Rs 100 with sound fundamentals and expected to give handsome returns over a one-year time horizon.

Time Technoplast reported stable quarterly numbers. The bottomline and topline grew steadily, but with no margin improvement.

NLC India reported its quarterly results after market hours. The topline remained subdued  while margins grew just about one per cent over the previous year. 

The company's board of directors recommend a final dividend for the year 2017 of Rs. 23 per share, total dividend amounting to Rs. 86 for the year 2017.

Nahar Industrial Enterprises standalone revenue for the quarter came in at Rs 452.2 crore, registering an increase of 16.7 per cent YoY.

Overall volumes in futures & options currently stand at 78.69 lakh contracts with a turnover of Rs. 7,10,778.64 crore.

Overall volumes in futures & options currently stand at 78.69 lakh contracts with a turnover of Rs. 7,10,778.64 crore.

The level of 10,400 is a significant support level as the 100-day EMA and rising trendline support are placed around this level. On the upper side, the level of 10,600-10,640 would be seen as a major hurdle for the Nifty. Top stocks to watch out today: Zee Learn, MT Educare, Sunteck Realty, Indiabulls Real Estate, Torrent Power, Indo Count Industries, Yes Bank and PVR.

Indian markets are expected to open higher on the back of positive global cues. Traders will also keenly await the release of WPI data. The SGX Nifty indicates that the Nifty could open with gains of 81 points around 10,544 at the opening bell.  

The stocks that are likely to record significant movement on the bourses on February 15, 2018 are Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Limited, Cox & Kings Limited, PVR Limited, Zensar Technologies Limited, YES Bank Limited and Satin Creditcare Network Limited.     

The company witnessed significant jump in its bottomline to Rs 3.33 crore, from merely Rs. 0.2 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. 

Repco Home Finance reported its Q3FY18 results during closing hours. The results were largely positive across the board

The Supreme Court has recently dismissed the SLP petition filed by the Bihar government against the company. This comes after the Bihar government banned liquor consumption in the state and the company’s manufacturing plant remained under stress. With the SC verdict in its favour, Globus remains confident of recommencing its operations.

Satin Creditcare reported strong quarterly performance over Q3FY18 with robust earnings. The net interest income for the quarter rose by 37 per cent yoy and 4.2 per cent qoq to Rs. 125 crore.

Yes Bank, SBI and Axis Bank were the biggest loser on Wednesday. The stock of Yes Bank, SBI and Axis Bank was down around 4 per cent. 

The trend suggests investment in ELSS is done primarily during the last four months of the financial year. Nevertheless, the introduction of LTCG may impact the inflows this financial year.

Technical Textiles manufacturer Garware-Wall Ropes posted a 15 per cent hike in its net profit to Rs. 21.6 crore for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2018 on a yearly basis as compared to Rs. 18.8 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year.

The company's board of directors have declared Interim Dividend of Re. 0.40 per equity share (20 per cent) of face value of Rs. 2 each for the FY17-18.

Balasore Alloys' standalone revenue for the quarter came in at Rs. 317.6 crore, registering 15 per cent yoy increase.

Being a mutual fund investor, it is important to know the various aspects which can impact the returns of your investment. The expense ratio is one of those aspects which carries a lot of importance as it is one of the basic things which directly impacts the returns.

The PAT for the quarter came in at Rs. 8.3 crore, yoy decline of 10.3 per cent. This was partly due to 11.8 per cent yoy jump in depreciation expenses.

KNR Construction's standalone revenue for the quarter came in at Rs. 433.19 crore, registering 13.3 per cent yoy increase.

The AUMs of MFs swelled by Rs 1.06 lakh crore in January 2018 and the equity-oriented MF schemes attracted almost Rs 23,055 crore, while the highest amount of money (in a single month) that was invested in equity-oriented MFs is Rs 28,145 crore in August 2017.Now, the million dollar question is: “Will this trend of continuous high inflows into equities continue in the coming months?

The finance minister presented Union Budget 2018 in the parliament amidst high expectations all around. However, it turned out to be an election budget with a clear focus on political considerations. While the budget will boost investment in rural development, education, healthcare and social sectors, it did not offer much to the salaried class, investors and corporate India. 

The world’s third largest economy, Japan, has managed to grow for the eight successive quarter which is also its largest successful run since the financial bubble of the late 1980s.

The recommendations provided in this column are taken from various market sources such as brokers, analysts, dealers and investment strategists, etc. These recommendations may not be backed by strong fundamentals. Therefore we advise readers to use their own discretion before investing in these recommendation 

Following stocks are close to their 52-week low as at 12.40 p.m. on February 14.

The markets on February 14 opened up. BSE Sensex is trading at 34,262.50, down by 37.97 points and the Nifty is trading at 10,537.35, down by 2.40 points. 

This column gives you scrip chosen by the research team during the fortnight that is fundamentally strong and expected to give good capital appreciation over a time period of 1 year.

BLS International Services reported consolidated revenue for the quarter at Rs. 202.8 crore , registering 24.6 per cent yoy increase. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, BLS reported 8.7 per cent growth in revenue.

The global markets saw a steady sell-off in the past couple of weeks with Dow Jones falling more than 8 per cent. S&P 500 too slipped by more than 8 per cent. Nasdaq slipped by more than 7.93 per cent in the past coupe of weeks. These indices indicate the broad-based sell-off in the US markets.

The share price of Punjab National Bank (PNB) plummeted about 8 per cent in morning trade on Wednesday after the bank detected some fraudulent transactions of about Rs. 11,000 Crore in one of its Mumbai branch.

Centum Electronics posted its Q3FY18 results wherein overall numbers were subdued across the board. Total revenue for the quarter declined by 26 per cent yoy and 17 per cent qoq to Rs.74 crore as against Rs. 100 crore in the previous year's corresponding quarter and Rs. 90 crore in the previous quarter

 The company's standalone revenue for the quarter came in at Rs. 75.44 crore, registering 24.7 per cent yoy decline. This was primarily driven by sharp decline in revenue from manufacturing and sale of solar power systems by 28.4 per cent. Also decline in sales from solar power plant operation by 28 per cent contributed to the deterioration in revenue.

We said in our previous editorial that markets will not fall below 34,000 level on a closing basis. Markets have indeed respected those sacrosanct levels and, going ahead, I think Sensex may trade range-bound in the range of 34,000 on the lower side and 36,000 on the higher side till March 31 at least. The risk-off mode in global equity markets will continue to fuel volatility in the equity markets and the investor’s confidence once again will be tested to the core.

IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited (IRB), India's leading private roadway developer, has successfully achieved the financial closure of Rs. 1,020 crores for its Kishangarh to Gulabpura tollway project.

The inflation CPI cooled down in January after touching 17-month high in December to 5.21 per cent. The CPI for January came down to 5.07 per cent. The food inflation declined marginally to 4.7 per cent. 

An inverted yield curve means the difference between long-term bond yields and short-term bond yields are negative that shows lower confidence in the economy.

The company's consolidated revenue for the quarter came in at Rs 640.38 crore, registering an increase of 2.5 per cent YoY. This was primarily driven by 9.4 per cent YoY increase in revenue from float glass.

Overall volumes in futures & options currently stand at 51.76 lakh contracts with a turnover of Rs. 4,41,659.86 crore.

Overall volumes in futures & options currently stand at 51.76 lakh contracts with a turnover of Rs. 4,41,659.86 crore.

The Nifty has managed to defend its 100-day EMA placed at 10,405. Going ahead, the zone of 10,600-10,640 would be seen as an immediate resistance level, whereas a move below 10,480 level would reinforce the selling pressure, taking Nifty towards 10,440-10,400 levels.  Top stocks for the day: Rolta, PVR, NBCC, Vascon Engineers, Apollo Tyres, Fortis Healthcare,   Mangalam Cement, Bank of Baroda, JSW Steel, Indoco Remedies, IOL Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, Idea Cellular and CG Power.

The key benchmark indices are likely to open on optimistic note, following overnight gains on Wall Street. The SGX Nifty indicates that the Nifty could open up by 84 points at 10,550 at the opening bell.  

TPL Plastics reported stable quarterly performance over the previous year. The total revenue for the quarter was strong with stable EBITDA margins

The company's EBITDA for the quarter fell by 2.4 per cent YoY to Rs. 6.889 crore, with a corresponding margin contraction of 179 bps. Its EBITDA margin for the quarter stood at 8.5 per cent. This margin contraction was due to jump in cost of materials by 21 per cent YoY.

The company's standalone revenue for the quarter came in at Rs. 722.72 crore, registering an increase of 9.1 per cent YoY. This was primarily driven by rise in revenue from PVC pipes and fittings segment by 19.7 per cent YoY.

Moreover, the company believes that its debt would reduce by Rs. 25,000 crore through prepayment and transfer of DOT spectrum instalments.

In 2017 small and mid-cap funds have given stellar returns. Out of the top 10 wealth creator funds of 2017, four funds are from the small and mid-cap category which pocketed almost 55 to 60 per cent returns to its investors. But in the last one month these small cap and mid cap funds seemed to be the funds with the worst returns.

UFO Moviez India standalone revenue for the quarter came in at Rs. 139.05 crore, registering a decline of 7.4 per cent YoY. The company's advertisement revenue grew by 15.8 per cent to Rs. 49.4 crore. 

The stocks that are likely to witness significant movement on the bourses on February 14 are NTPC Limited, Precision Camshafts, Sandu Pharmaceuticals, Emami Infrastructure, Jaypee Infratech, Kiri Industries, Chambal Fertilizers and Canara Bank.

NTPC on Tuesday announced that it has won a tender for supplying 300 megawatts electricity to Bangladesh for 15 years.

The PAT for the quarter came in at Rs. 21.6 crore, yoy increase of 15.5 per cent. This was due to surge in other income to Rs. 2.2 crore as against Rs. 1 crore in corresponding quarter.

Nesco Limited reported its Q3FY18 results on Tuesday. The quarterly numbers were largely subdued across the board.

The PAT for the quarter came in at Rs. 164.69 crore, yoy increase of 51.6 per cent. This was due to tax credit in the quarter as against effective tax rate of 5.3 per cent corresponding quarter of last year.

BSE Limited's mutual fund platform BSE StAR MF processed a record 3.6 lakh transactions on a single day on Monday, February 12, 2018 with transactions of Rs. 750 crore.

The National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Authority (NPPA), India’s drug pricing regulator, on Monday, revised the prices of coronary stents.

 The PAT for the quarter came in at Rs. 66.1 crore, yoy increase of 27.1 per cent. This was partly led by 18 per cent yoy decline in interest expenses.

Precision Camshafts has won fresh contracts from major OEMs. The top order is from Ford for 1.5 million fully machined camshafts. The supply will start from January 2019.

Aeris Agro posted mix performance for Q3FY18. The revenue for the quarter rose but margins over the quarter declined substantially.

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Britannia’s consolidated revenue for the quarter came in at Rs. 2,567.48 crore, registering 9 per cent yoy increase.

Technical Analysis of 1 Stock (with 15 days horizon)

Reviews on 2 stocks recommended in past.

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) grew at 7.1 per cent in December 2017 compared to 2.4 per cent in December 2016, which was affected by demonetization drive. The growth in industrial output was supported by rise in manufacturing and capital goods production. 

MIRC Electronics reported subdued quarter for Q3FY18 due to declining revenues. The margins over the quarter also weakened further due to high raw material costs.

EBITDA for the quarter rose by 35.6 per cent yoy to Rs. 28.51 crore with a corresponding margin contraction of 110 bps. EBITDA margin for the quarter stood at 10.5 per cent. This margin contraction was led by jump in power and fuel expenses and cost of materials by 46.3 per cent yoy and 13.7 per cent yoy, respectively.

In the near future, Indian paper manufacturers are expected to feel the blow of the hiked imported pulp prices. Of-late, imported pulp prices have peaked to 7 year highs and are expected to remain higher for some period.