Key benchmark indices languished in negative zone early afternoon trade after Australia's Bureau of Meteorology that the chances of an El Nino weather pattern occurring this year have increased. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 25.38 points or 0.12%, off 17.89 points from the day's high and up 113.23 points from the day's low. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) reversed intraday losses after the company announced that it has won a multi-million, multi-year deal from GDF Suez, a global leader in the energy sector. Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) extended Monday's gain triggered by the company securing a large contract worth Rs 3000 crore from NTPC. Tyre stocks surged, with Apollo Tyres and CEAT hitting record high and JK Tyre & Industries hitting 52-week high.
Volatility ruled the roost in early trade as the key benchmark indices cut initial losses triggered by mostly lower Asian stocks. The Sensex regained the psychological 22,000 level after falling below that level in early trade. The 50-unit CNX Nifty reversed initial losses and matched its record high hit in intraday trade on Monday, 24 March 2014. Key benchmark indices languished in negative zone early afternoon trade.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1465.62 crore on Monday, 24 March 2014, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
Indian stocks may remain volatile this week as traders roll over positions in the futures & options (F&O) segment from the near-month March 2014 series to April 2014 series. The near-month March 2014 F&O contracts expire on Thursday, 27 March 2014.
At 12:15 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 25.38 points or 0.12% to 22,030.10. The index lost 138.61 points at the day's low of 21,916.87 in early trade. The index fell 7.49 points at the day's high of 22,047.99 in morning trade.
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The CNX Nifty was down 2.05 points or 0.03% at 6,581.45. The index hit a low of 6,544.85 in intraday trade. The index hit a high of 6,591.50 in intraday trade, matching its record high hit in intraday trade on Monday, 24 March 2014.
The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 24.28 points or 0.36% at 6,825.20. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 8.31 points or 0.12% at 6,850.22. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 1,424 shares declined and 1,060 shares gained. A total of 178 shares were unchanged.
The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 923 crore by 12:15 IST on BSE compared with Rs 679 crore by 11:20 IST.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) rose 0.5% to Rs 2163.05. The stock was volatile. The stock hit high of Rs 2,172 and low of Rs 2,130 so far during the day. TCS during market hours today, 25 March 2014, announced that it has won a multi-million, multi-year deal from GDF Suez, a global leader in the energy sector. This is the first landmark deal won by its new integrated entity which emerged through its acquisition of Alti S.A in July 2013. The engagement will pan across France, Belgium, and the Netherlands to rationalize and standardize CRM and billing applications, TCS said.
Kumar Narayanan, Director & Country Head, TCS France said: "We are privileged to partner with GDF Suez to help them meet their strategic objectives in Europe and globally. This is a first landmark deal, which reinforces the tremendous synergies between TCS' global capabilities and the local talent base as well as knowledge we have secured through our acquisition of Alti S.A. The integrated capabilities allow us to provide a more comprehensive set of services and solutions to help our clients in Europe make their businesses more competitive.
Capital goods stocks gained. L&T (up 0.19%), ABB India (up 3.11%), Bharat Electronics (up 2.28%), Crompton Greaves (up 1.56%), Siemens (up 2.89%) and Thermax (up 0.29%) gained.
Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) extended Monday's gain triggered by the company securing a large contract worth Rs 3000 crore from NTPC. The stock was up 1.46%.
Tyre stocks surged. Goodyear India (up 1.08%), MRF (up 0.86%), TVS Srichakra (up 2.72%) gained
JK Tyre & Industries gained 6.98% to Rs 182.50 after hitting a 52-week high of Rs 185 in intraday trade.
CEAT surged 4.95% to Rs 452.75 after hitting a record high of Rs 456.30 in intraday trade.
Apollo Tyres jumped 8.61% to Rs 160.80 after hitting a record high of Rs 166.20 in intraday trade. The stock rose on heavy volumes. On BSE, so far 36.07 lakh shares were traded in the counter, compared with an average volume of 12.83 lakh shares in the past one quarter.
Financial Technologies (India) rose 2.97% after the company said it raised Rs 72.89 crore by selling a partial stake in Indian Energy Exchange to Golden Oak (Mauritius). The company made the announcement after market hours on Monday, 24 March 2014.
Financial Technologies (India) (FTIL) said it has entered into a share purchase agreement (SPA) for sale of 13.64 lakh equity shares (face value of Rs 10 each) of Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) to Golden Oak (Mauritius), for a consideration of Rs 72.89 crore.
The above said sale of shares was to comply with Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) Regulations to bring down the company's stake in IEX to 25%. Accordingly, the company has consummated the above said transaction, FTIL said in a statement.
Subsequent to the above said transaction, the shareholding of FTIL in IEX will be 28.49% and on fully diluted basis 25.64%.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar, tracking broad global losses in the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 60.46, compared with its close of 60.77/78 on Monday, 24 March 2014.
The Reserve Bank of India will announce the First Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement, 2014-15 on 1 April 2014. Citing price pressures, the Reserve Bank of India raised its key lending rates by 25 basis points after Third Quarter Review of Monetary Policy for 2013-14 on 28 January 2014.
The chances of an El Nino weather pattern occurring this year have increased, according to Australia's Bureau of Meteorology. Climate models show that the tropical Pacific Ocean is likely to warm in coming months, with most models predicting sea surface temperatures reaching El Nino thresholds during the southern hemisphere winter, the bureau said today, 25 March 2014. El Nino is the warming of the Pacific Ocean that causes a shift of moist winds away from their typical patterns. It generally results in less rain for India's June-to-September monsoon season.
The next major trigger for the stock market is the outcome of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Lok Sabha elections will be held between 7 April 2014 and 12 May 2014 in nine phases. The counting of votes will be take place on 16 May 2014. The term of the current Lok Sabha expires on June 1 and the new House has to be constituted by May 31. Along with the Lok Sabha election, Andhra Pradesh (AP), including the regions comprising Telangana, Odisha and Sikkim will go to polls to elect new assemblies. AP, Odisha and Sikkim assemblies come to end on June 2, June 7 and May 7 respectively.
Asian stocks edged lower on Tuesday, 25 March 2014, as data on Monday, 24 March 2014, showed a slowdown in US manufacturing and as investors weighed the prospect of a recession in Russia. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, China and South Korea were off 0.22% to 0.48%. In Taiwan, the Taiwan Weighted rose 0.98%.
China's manufacturing industry weakened a fifth straight month in March 2014, a preliminary China Purchasing Managers' Index from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics showed yesterday, 24 March 2014.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could advance 8 points at the opening bell on Tuesday, 25 March 2014. US stocks bounced off session lows but still finished Monday lower as sell-off in biotechnology companies weighed on indexes on a day light on economic news.
The sole economic report Monday was Markit's preliminary or flash PMI index, which tallied 55.5 in March, just slightly below February's nearly four-year high. Any number over 50 signals growth. Most manufacturers said they were churning out plenty of goods and demand remained strong. They also continued to add workers in anticipation of stronger growth in the broader US economy in the months ahead, Markit said.
San Francisco Federal Reserve President John Williams in an interview with Washington Post said there was no suggestion from the Federal Reserve last week that the central bank will pull the trigger to hike interest rates sooner than previously believed. "Market perceptions are what they are. But I really don't see anything of what we said as suggesting that we're going to tighten monetary policy sooner rather than previously," Williams said.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) next undertakes monetary policy review at a two-day meeting on 29-30 April 2014. The Federal Reserve on 19 March 2014 said after the conclusion of a monetary policy review that it will trim its monthly bond purchases by $10 billion to $55 billion. The Federal Reserve will end its bond-buying program before the end of the year with an interest-rate increase likely to follow in "around six months," Chair Janet Yellen said on 19 March 2014. Quarterly Fed forecasts on 19 March 2014 showed more officials predicting that the benchmark interest rate, now close to zero, will rise to at least 1% by the end of 2015 and 2.25% a year later.
The world's top industrial powers threatened further sanctions to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from taking over other parts of Ukraine and suspended Russia from participating in the Group of Eight. The leaders of the G-7 industrialized nations on Monday, 24 March 2014, said they will not participate in the scheduled G-8 summit in Sochi due to Russia's "illegal attempt to annex Crimea." In a statement, the leaders warned that any escalation of the crisis would result in "coordinated sectoral sanctions" that will hurt the Russian economy. The G-7 urged the International Monetary Fund and the Ukrainian government to rapidly reach a deal on conditions for an aid package, which will unlock other international assistance. "We remain united in our commitment to provide strong financial banking to Ukraine," the statement said. The energy ministers of the seven nations will meet to discuss ways to strengthen "collective energy security," the statement said.
Standard & Poor's on Monday, 24 March 2014 cut the credit rating on Brazil's long term bonds to one notch above junk, citing deteriorating government accounts and rising debt, the latest rebuke for a once-highflying economy now struggling to hold on to the investor enthusiasm it inspired just a few years ago. The ratings agency cut Brazil's sovereign credit rating to triple-B-minus from triple-B, also citing weak economic growth, and said its outlook for Brazil was stable. The downgrade marks a turnaround from 2008, when Brazil's bonds were awarded investment grade status amid the global financial crisis.
Brazil has suffered from slow growth that averaged about 2% in recent years. "The downgrade reflects the combination of fiscal slippage, the prospect that fiscal execution will remain weak amid subdued growth in the coming years, a constrained ability to adjust policy ahead of the October presidential elections, and some weakening in Brazil's external accounts," S&P said. The agency said that fiscal credibility had been "systematically weakened" following cuts in the government's main budget target, and that loans by state-run banks had "undermined policy credibility and transparency."
The Brazilian finance ministry rejected S&P's arguments and said the downgrade contradicted Brazil's solid economic fundamentals and healthy standing compared with other major economies. "The Brazilian economy has low external vulnerability because it holds the fifth largest volume of international reserves among G20 nations," it said in a statement.
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