The Week That Was: Airtel shines, Voda tanks; Infy, Piramal on a high; YES hit hard

Benchmark equity indices extended their gains into the second straight week on hope of better earnings and positive developments in the forthcoming Union Budget 2020.

BSE Sensex advanced 345 points, or 0.83 per cent, to 41,945 for during week ended January 17, while Nifty gained 95 points, or 0.78 per cent, to 12,352. Both scaled their fresh all-time highs at 42,063 and 12,389, respectively, during the week.

The market kicked off the week on a bullish note after official data showed 1.8 per cent expansion in November industrial output after three months of contraction. Thereafter, it pared gains amid reports that a spike in retail inflation in December, which raised chances of RBI putting an end to rate cuts. However, a recovery in the last two days of the week helped the market end near all-time high levels.

“Optimism over the Union Budget and improvement in earnings growth as per the Q3FY20 previews supported the market during the week,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. “Further, strong global cues on account of signing of the Phase-1 of US-China trade deal added positive vibes to the market,” he said.
Here are the top stocks and sectors that created all the buzz on Dalal Street during the week gone by

Telecom: Shares of telcos turned volatile during the later part of the week, after the Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the plea for a review of its October 24 verdict that had widened the definition of adjusted gross revenue (AGR). As a result, Vodafone Idea dropped 25.70 per cent to Rs 4.50. However, Bharti Airtel advanced 9.36 per cent to Rs 500, as investors started pricing in possible market share gains on likely consolidation in the industry. The stock has gained over 34 per cent since October last year and Vodafone Idea 4 per cent.

Stocks that rallied up to 27%: As many as 43 stocks in the BSE500 index delivered over 10 per cent returns to investors during the week. They included Indostar Capital Finance (up 27 per cent), Inox Wind (25 per cent), TV18 Broadcast (23 per cent), Birla Corporation (22 per cent) and IRB Infra (22 per cent). Among others, Magma Fincorp, Force Motors, KPIT Technologies, Blue Dart, Rallis India and Avanti Feeds advanced between 15 and 22 per cent.

Stocks that cracked up to 26%: As many as six stocks on the BSE500 index plunged in double digits. Vodafone Idea lost the most at 26 per cent, followed by Reliance Infrastructure (14 per cent), Adani Green Energy (14 per cent), Reliance Power (13 per cent) and Bharti Infratel (12 per cent). YES Bank, IndusInd Bank, Reliance Capital and Sunteck Realty declined 7-13 per cent.

Top Nifty gainers and losers: Besides Bharti Airtel, Zee Entertainment (up 7 per cent), Hindustan Unilever (up 5 per cent) and Nestle (up 5 per cent) emerged top gainers in the Nifty pack. On the other hand, Bharti Infratel (down 13 per cent), YES Bank (down 12 per cent), IndusInd Bank (down 9 per cent) and State Bank of India (down 4 per cent) were among the top losers in the 50-share pack.

YES Bank & IndusInd Bank: Moody’s Investors Service placed YES Bank's long-term foreign currency issuer rating of B2 under review, with the direction uncertain, citing “slowness in raising new capital”. The stock slipped 12 per cent during the week. On the other hand, IndusInd Bank came under selling pressure after it missed Street estimates amid rise in provisions, as it posted 32 per cent YoY growth in profit at Rs 1,300 crore in Q3FY20. It lost 9 per cent.

Rallis India: Shares of Rallis India, Tata group’s crop protection business, advanced 18 per cent to Rs 220.50 on January 17 from Rs 186.50 on January 10. The company on January 16 reported 177 per cent year-on-year rise in net profit at Rs 38 crore for the quarter ended December 2019.

Piramal Enterprises: Shares of Piramal Enterprises hogged limelight after the company signed an agreement for the sale of its Decision Resources Group (DRG) business to US-headquartered Clarivate Analytics for $950 million (over Rs 6,745 crore). The scrip jumped 12 per cent to Rs 1627 during the past five trading sessions.

Stocks at all-time highs: As many as 44 stocks from the BSE500 pack scaled fresh peak during the week gone by. They included Polycab India, Indian Energy Exchange, AU Small Finance Bank, Muthoot Finance, Prestige Estate, Ratnamani Metals, Garware Technical Fibres, Berger Paints, Apollo Hospitals and Indraprastha Gas.

Infosys: Shares of IT major Infosys jumped over 4 per cent to Rs 767.90 for the week ended January 17. The scrip witnessed some buying after it reported a 23.7 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 4,466 crore for the December quarter, which the company executives called satisfactory.

TV18 Broadcast: Shares of TV18 Broadcast rallied over 23 per cent to Rs 45.90 during the week. The media firm gained momentum after it reported a 39.60 per cent rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 205.16 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2019.

HCL, TCS, RIL: Shares of HCL, Reliance Industries (RIL) and HCL Technologies also remained on investors’ radar ahead of their financial results for the quarter ended December 2019. These firms reported their quarterly numbers on Friday post market hours. HCL Technologies posted a 13 per cent rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 2,944 crore for the December 2019, while the country's largest software exporter TCS reported a flat December quarter net profit at Rs 8,118 crore. RIL reported a 13.5 per cent growth in consolidated net profit to a record Rs 11,640 crore in Q3FY20.