An across-the-board selloff swept Dalal Street, forcing equity indices to settle with deep cuts on March 6 as the Reserve Bank of India's decision to place Yes Bank under a moratorium spooked investors.
Weak global cues fanned by coronavirus fears persisted, making the situation worse. Most Asian and European markets suffered big losses as concerns over the economic fallout of the virus roiled sentiment.
"We continue to maintain our cautious view on Indian markets and expect volatility to remain high in the near-term. The updates on the spread of coronavirus cases would be the single biggest factor dictating global markets going forward. On the domestic front, updates on the resolution plan for Yes Bank along with the spread of coronavirus cases would be actively tracked by traders and investors," said Ajit Mishra, VP-Research, Religare Broking.
For the week, the Sensex lost 721 points, or nearly 2 percent, while the Nifty retreated 212 points or nearly 2 percent.
Here's a look at the top 10 stocks which move the most this week:
Top Gainers
Oriental Bank of Commerce, up 39%
Share price of Oriental Bank of Commerce jumped over 39 percent for the week after the government approved a scheme for the amalgamation of 10 state-owned banks into four. Punjab National Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India will combine to form the nation’s second-largest lender.
Effective from April 1, 2020, the balance sheets, as well as stocks of these banks, will be integrated, according to the scheme of amalgamation approved by the Union Cabinet.
Future Consumer, up 27%
Future Consumer share price shot up 27 percent for the week after the company said there is no material impact of coronavirus on its business. "We, the entire team of FCL, would take this opportunity to firmly assure our stakeholders that fundamentally it is business as usual and there are no pressures or any invocation of FCL‘s pledge shares. Any rumours on the fundamentals of the Company are totally baseless and false. The Company continues to build its position from strength to strength,” it said.
3M India, up 9%
Share price of 3M India gained 9 percent for the week after reports that the sale of face masks, sanitizer, and gloves have soared in the country amid the coronavirus fears. 3M India manufactures over 8,000 products including personal healthcare and safety products such as face masks and sanitizers.
Pfizer, up 5%
Share price of Pfizer jumped 5 percent for the week after reports suggested that its parent company has found some antiviral compounds that can inhibit coronavirus. Drugmaker Pfizer Inc. said on March 2 that it identified certain antiviral compounds it had in development that have the potential to inhibit coronaviruses and is engaging with a third party to screen the compounds.
Top Losers
Tata Chemicals, down 56%
Share price of Tata Chemicals plunged 56 percent for the week after its shares turned ex-date on March 4 and began trading on the bourses without the conglomerate’s food business. Tata Group in May 2019 decided to demerge the consumer business of Tata Chemicals and merge it with Tata Consumer Products, formerly Tata Global Beverages. According to the plan, 114 shares of Tata Global will be issued for every 100 shares of Tata Chemicals.
The demerger of the consumer business would help Tata Chemicals deploy resources to expand its chemical portfolio towards high-margin products, brokerages and experts said.
YES Bank, down 53%
Share price of YES Bank tanked 53 percent for the week after the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on March 6 put restrictions on the bank shares in various segments, including futures and options. In a rare move, capital-starved Yes Bank was on March 5 placed under a moratorium, with the RBI capping deposit withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account for a month and superseding its board.
“There is a liquidity crunch and nothing in the stock. RBI ban suggests that there could be some hidden problems such as capital crunch, NPA issue, etc. RBI ban suggests that there would not be any business and investors should ideally stay away,” said Sanjeev Jain, VP Equity Research at Sunness Capital India.
JP Morgan is underweight on YES Bank and has cut target to Re 1 while UBS has maintained a sell call with the target at Rs 20 per share. Macquarie has an underperform call on the stock with the target at Rs 25 per share.
SpiceJet, down 24%
SpiceJet share price fell over 24 percent for the week amid rising coronavirus cases make the skies gloomier for air carriers. As per rating agency ICRA, the outlook for India's aviation industry remains "negative" in the wake of the viral outbreak. The outbreak is bad news for the Indian aviation industry already reeling under passenger traffic slowdown. The international traffic growth in the nine months of FY2020 declined 8.4 percent.
Vodafone Idea, down 14%
Share price of Vodafone Idea fell 14 percent for the week after the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) sent fresh notices to telecom operators on pending adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues. Part payments would not be considered as compliance of the Supreme Court order, the notices said, asking the telecom operators to pay the outstanding amount at the earliest.
With the Supreme Court-mandated dues pushing Vodafone Idea to the brink, Vodafone Group CEO Nick Read on Friday met Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to discuss relief options to keep the company afloat. The meeting assumes significance as Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL), where the British telecom giant holds just over 45 per cent stake, is staring at Rs 53,000 crore in unpaid statutory dues, having paid only Rs 3,500 crore in two tranches so far.
Tata Motors, down 11%
Share price of auto major Tata Motors shed over 11 percent for the week after it announced a drop in China sales due to coronavirus. The coronavirus significantly impacted China sales, with February retail down around 85 percent against the previous year, the company said in a release.
However, Jaguar Land Rover sales grew on an average 25 percent year-on-year for the six months from July through December 2019. The strong growth continued in the first three weeks of January, it added. The spread of the virus to other markets such as South Korea, Japan and Italy will also impact sales in those markets, the company said.
State Bank of India, down 10%
PSU banking major SBI's share price was down over 10 percent for the week following reports it is picking up stake in Yes Bank. According to CNBC-TV18 sources, SBI and LIC are likely to each pick up 24.5 percent stake in the Yes Bank and likely to appoint a new MD for Yes Bank and get the board control.
Kotak Institutional Equities has maintained buy rating with a target at Rs 420 per share. Broking house believes that SBI is the best proxy to invest in the corporate NPL recovery theme as it offers the best risk-reward. The financial investment can ideally limit the loss as compared to a merger, it added.
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