For public sector units (PSUs), the price revision has been relatively moderate. Five of the seven PSUs in the
Nifty have seen 6-15 per cent cut in targets. Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has seen the largest cut at 38 per cent, followed by Indian Oil Corporation at 21.24 per cent. However, analysts say more PSUs can face steeper cuts in the coming days.
“PSU utilities could see further downward revisions as they have an issue with the receivable part of their books and are operating at lower capacities due to the Covid-19 outbreak,” Chokkalingam said.
Meanwhile, the pharma names in the
Nifty have seen some upward revision to their target prices. For Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, brokerages have moved the target price from Rs 2,892 to Rs 3,657, a jump of 26 per cent.
For Sun Pharma, the target price has seen marginal upmove of two per cent, while prices have been raised by seven per cent for Cipla. “While most sectors are likely to see significant negative impact due to Covid-19, the pharma sector will see less of an impact,” said Sailesh Raj Bhan, deputy CIO, Nippon India MF.
Within consumer staples, Hind-ustan Unilever has seen upward revision of 7.6 per cent, and Nestlé has seen targets raised by 10 per cent. “Besides pharma, consumption basket remains better placed, and offers better earnings visibility,” said a fund manager.
“We have seen pre-buying across consumer staples in anticipation of the
lockdown. However, we don’t see June quarter numbers meeting the expectations build-up of markets,” Jasani added.
The information technology (IT) sector is bracing for a heavy impact from the outbreak, with analysts fearing sharp cuts in IT spending in the US and Europe, as these geographies have been severely hit by the
coronavirus pandemic. For
TCS and Infosys, targets are down, between 11 and 12 per cent.
For Wipro and Tech Mahindra, targets are down 20 per cent. Analysts say US and Europe together account for more than two-thirds of business for Indian IT firms.
Nifty, Sensex resume slide with spurt in virus cases across country
Equity indices ended lower after trade on Thursday as a risk-off mood took hold amid a spike in
coronavirus cases in the country. Strong selling in banking, financials and consumption stocks weighed on the bourses, despite positive global cues, traders said. The Sensex dropped 242.37 points, or 0.76 per cent, to close at 31,443.38. The Nifty slipped 71.85 points, or 0.78 per cent, to 9,199.05.
ONGC was the top loser in the Sensex pack, slumping 4.54 per cent.
PTI
Inputs by Sundar Sethuraman