The Indian stock market slipped from record highs to end lower on Thursday, dragged by banking shares, as investors remained cautious amid polling and Q4 results. Tepid sentiment in global peers also affected the domestic indices. Asian shares dipped on Thursday amid subdued trade after losses on Wall Street and some profit-taking ahead of a long Easter weekend. The BSE Sensex ended at 39,140, down 135 points, while the broader NSE Nifty50 settled at 11,753, slipping 34 points. Broader markets underperformed benchmark indices with Nifty Midcap slipping 1 percent, and Nifty Smallcap falling 1.6 percent. Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, JSW Steel, BPCL, and Wipro were other top gainers on Nifty. While Indiabulls Housing Finance, Yes Bank, Hindalco, Zee, and Vedanta fell the most on the index. All sectoral indices were trading in the red. Nifty Realty fell over 2 percent, while Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Metal and Nifty Bank were down over 1 percent each.

"The foundation for a stronger economy has been set for the next government to optimize on but the world is now a scarier place than it was because the debt levels in the world have reached ultimate limits, he said. For example, the Central Bank of Japan now owns 50 percent of the stocks in the country, they are top 10 shareholders", he added. READ MORE

It would then be cheaper to start a new airline in the country than to take over liabilities of the airline – which has an inflated cost structure with top heavy management, cumulative debt of more than Rs 8,000 crore and account payables of additional estimated Rs 3,000 crore which are due to lessors, banks, airports and refunds & cancellations to guests.

SpiceJet will induct six more Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft on dry lease. These six aircraft are in addition to the 16 B737s and 5 Q400s that the airline will soon induct. The total number of planes to be inducted in the immediate future now stands at 27.  The airline has applied to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to import the planes. Subject to regulatory approvals the aircraft would begin joining SpiceJet’s fleet in the next ten days.

Morgan Stanley observed that most of these factors have reversed, setting the stage for a new earnings cycle. Softer rates, higher investments, recovery in risk appetite, a less overvalued rupee, higher capacity utilization and therefore a recovery in pricing power and a stronger macro growth outlook will drive the earnings this season. READ MORE

SpiceJet has emerged as the top beneficiary as, firstly, since both the airlines fly the same aircraft model of Boeing 737, SpiceJet can get the de-registered planes of Jet Airways at a time comfortably and this has come at a time when one month back, almost 12 planes were taken out of its fleet because of safety concerns about the MAX 737 aircraft. READ MORE

CLSA on Thursday reiterated a ‘Sell’ rating on Wipro with an unchanged price target of Rs 220 per share due to its growth and execution challenges. Weak Q1FY20 guidance of -1.4 percent to 0.6 percent QoQ suggests growth challenges will persist for the company, CLSA said.

SpiceJet surged as much as 15 percent on Thursday while InterGlobe Aviation, the operator of IndiGo, advanced 4 percent, marking their fifth straight session of gains. The gains in the domestic aviation stocks come after rival Jet Airways temporarily suspended its operations on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Jet Airways shares tanked as much as 34.01 percent to Rs 158.70. On Wednesday, Jet Airways lenders failed to infuse interim funds required to keep the company afloat. READ MORE

Reliance Industries will report its March-quarter earnings on Thursday after market hours. The oil-to-telecom conglomerate is expected to report a fall in the Q4 revenue by about 4.4 percent to Rs 1.49 lakh crore from Rs 1.56 lakh crore from the December quarter, according to a poll conducted by CNBC-TV18.

The EBITDA for the quarter could decline by almost about 4 percent to Rs 20,515 crore and the profits could fall by about 3 percent on a quarterly basis at Rs 9,930 crore, according to the poll. The refining and the petrochemical businesses are expected to see a slowdown. 

The gross refining margins (GRMs) have been under a lot of pressure over the last many quarters and was also seen in the March quarter as well. GRMs are expected to fall by 10 percent on a quarterly basis to come in at $8.2 per barrel.

Mindtree, which is facing a hostile takeover bid by infrastructure giant L&T, said its board has also declared an interim dividend of Rs 3 per equity share, and recommended a special dividend of 200 percent (Rs 20 a share) to "celebrate the twin achievements of exceeding $1 billion annual revenue milestone and 20th anniversary of the company" subject to shareholders' nod.

Benchmark indices opened at record highs as investors remain positive on Q4 earnings. The second phase of polling for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections also started today keeping the sentiment upbeat on hopes of BJP-led government coming back to power. Meanwhile, Asian shares were subdued after a negative performance on Wall Street, with the Good Friday and Easter holidays keeping investors on the sidelines. The S&P BSE Sensex gained as much as 211 points to hit a new high of 39,487.45, surpassing the previous high of 39,364, hit on April 16. Similarly, the Nifty50 index rose 69 points to hit a record high of 11,856, surpassing the previous high of 11,810.95, hit on April 16. Reliance Industries, Asian Paints, Tata Motors, HDFC, and ICICI Bank gained the most on Nifty, while Bharti AIrtel, Bharti Infratel, Hindalco, JSW Steel, and Tata Steel fell the most on the index. Sectoral indices were trading mixed in morning deals with Nifty Auto, and Nifty Banks gaining, while, Nifty IT, Nifty Metal, and Nifty Realty fell.

Morgan Stanley on Wipro

- Underweight call, target raised to Rs 255 from Rs 225 per share

- Q4 saw weaker IT services revenue but better EBIT

- Revenue growth guidance of -1 to +1 percent softer than expected

- Management alluded to better growth in FY20 vs FY19

- FY20/21 EPS estimates raised by 2-3 percent

HSBC on Reliance Industries

- Reports suggest Saudi Aramco in talks to acquire minority stake in downstream businesses

- Possible deal could partly de-risk company’s energy business in long-term

- Possible deal could accelerate its deleveraging plans in near term

- Maintain buy rating, target at Rs 1,500 per share