Key benchmark indices regained strength in early afternoon trade. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 131.35 points or 0.59%, up about 180 points from the day's low and off close to 10 points from the day's high. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned negative from positive.
Index heavyweight and cigarette maker ITC declined. Bank stocks edged higher. Indraprastha Gas rose on reports the company on Friday, 5 May 2014, raised prices of CNG and PNG, citing rise in input costs. Hindalco Industries extended intraday gains.
Key indices hovered between gains and losses near the flat line in early trade. It regained strength after trimming gains after hitting fresh intraday high in morning trade. It trimmed gains in mid-morning trade. It regained strength in early afternoon trade.
The market sentiment was boosted by data showing that foreign funds remained net buyers of Indian stocks on Friday, 2 May 2014. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 386.95 crore on Friday, 2 May 2014, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
At 12:20 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 131.35 points or 0.59% to 22,535.24. The index rose 141.29 points at the day's high of 22,545.18 in morning trade. The index shed 49.44 points at the day's low of 22,354.45 in early trade, its lowest level since 30 April 2014.
The CNX Nifty was up 31.70 points or 0.47% to 6,726.50. The index hit a high of 6,732.05 in intraday trade. The index hit a low of 6,680.45 in intraday trade, its lowest level since 30 April 2014.
The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 22.10 points or 0.3% to 7,379.56. The BSE Small-Cap index fell 5.97 points or 0.08% to 7,526.84. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
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The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned negative from positive. On BSE, 1,165 shares fell and 1,094 shares rose. A total of 118 shares were unchanged.
Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 16 stocks gained and rest of them fell. ONGC (up 3.91%), Reliance Industries (up 2.4%) and L&T (up 1.97%) edged higher from the Sensex pack.
Hindalco Industries rose 4.05%, with the stock extending intraday gains.
Bank stocks edged higher. Axis Bank (up 1.23%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 0.4%), State Bank of India (SBI) (up 0.25%), HDFC Bank (up 0.16%) and ICICI Bank (up 0.01%) gained.
Index heavyweight and cigarette maker ITC declined 1.03%.
Indraprastha Gas rose 1.54% on reports the company on Friday, 5 May 2014, raised prices of CNG and PNG, citing rise in input costs. After Friday's revision, CNG (gas used as automotive fuel) would cost Rs 38.15 per kg against Rs 35.20 in Delhi. Due to difference in the tax rate, the fuel would cost Rs 43.50 in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad.
In Delhi, PNG (piped gas in kitchens) would now cost Rs 25.50 per scm (standard cubic metre) against Rs 24.50 per scm up to consumption of 36 scm in two months. Beyond 36 scm in two months, the applicable rate in Delhi would be Rs 48 per scm.
In Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad, PNG would cost Rs 27.30 per scm for consumption of 36 scm in two months, up from Rs 26.20 per scm. Beyond this limit, the rate applicable in these cities would be Rs 48.75 per scm.
V-Guard Industries surged 10.5% after net profit surged 129.08% to Rs 20.48 crore on 12.80% rise in net sales to Rs 418.99 crore in Q4 March 2014 over Q4 March 2013. The company announced the result after market hours on Friday, 2 May 2014. V-Guard Industries' net profit rose 11.46% to Rs 70.13 crore on 11.66% rise in net sales to Rs 1505.88 crore in the year ended March 2014 over the year ended March 2013.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 60.0875, compared with its close of 60.16 on Friday, 2 May 2014.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) next undertakes monetary policy review on 3 June 2014. The RBI left its main lending rate viz. the repo rate unchanged at 8% after a monetary policy review on 1 April 2014, as consumer-price inflation eased to a two-year low and as the rupee firmed up against the dollar.
A major near term trigger for the stock market is the outcome of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The 36 days long voting process began on 7 April 2014 and will conclude on 12 May 2014. The results will be declared on 16 May 2014 after which India will get a new government. The term of the current Lok Sabha expires on 1 June and the new House has to be constituted by 31 May.
Asian stocks fell on Monday after a private gauge of Chinese manufacturing contracted for a fourth month, missing market estimates. Key benchmark indices in China, Singapore, and Hong Kong declined 0.15% to 1.38%. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite rose 0.01%. Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted gained 0.04%. Markets in Japan and South Korea are closed today and tomorrow for holidays.
China's manufacturing contracted in April for a fourth month, according to a private survey, signaling the risk of a deeper slowdown in an economy already projected to expand this year at the slowest pace since 1990. A purchasing managers' index was at 48.1, HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics said in a statement today. That compared with 48 the previous month. Numbers below 50 indicate contractions.
Growth in China's services sector accelerated slightly in April as new orders held steady, an official survey showed, an encouraging sign of strength in an economy that otherwise faces a cloudy outlook. The purchasing manufacturing index (PMI) for the services industry edged up to 54.8 last month, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Saturday, up marginally from 54.5 in March. A reading above 50 in PMI surveys indicates growth on a monthly basis, while a number below that threshold points to a contraction in activity.
Indonesia's economic growth missed economists' estimates in the first quarter after interest-rate increases last year curbed lending and foreign investment. Gross domestic product rose 5.21% in the three months ended March 31 from a year earlier, the Central Bureau of Statistics said in Jakarta today.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could fall 17 points at the opening bell on Monday, 5 May 2014. US stocks eased on Friday as concerns about more violence in Ukraine prompted profit-taking ahead of the weekend and offset optimism about the fastest job growth in more than two years.
The labor market shifted into a higher gear in April with payroll gains showing the most widespread advance in two years, a sign the US economic expansion is on the verge of speeding up. The 288,000 increase in employment marked the biggest upside surprise since February 2012 and followed a 203,000 rise the prior month, Labor Department figures showed in Washington. An index measuring the share of industries hiring climbed to 67, the highest level since January 2012. The jobless rate dropped to 6.3%, the lowest since September 2008.
The Federal Reserve will likely bring its massive bond-buying program to an end in October, and only after that will it consider when to raise rates, a top Fed official said on Sunday. "I personally expect us to end that program in October," Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher said in an interview on Fox News. "Then we have to see how the economy is doing, including these broader measures of unemployment and where we stand before we can talk about how we might move the short-term rate," he added.
In Europe, a monthly meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England's (BoE) for monetary policy review is scheduled on Thursday, 8 May 2014.
The European Central Bank (ECB) will hold monetary policy meeting on Thursday, 8 May 2014, in Brussels, Belgium.
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