Key benchmark indices pared gains amid volatility in afternoon trade. European markets rose in early trade and Asian stocks were mostly higher. The 50-unit CNX Nifty fell below the psychological 6,000 mark after moving above that level in intraday trade. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 11.11 points or 0.06%, off 147.70 points from the day's high and up 116.95 points from the day's low. Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC edged lower. Another index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) held firm. Capital goods stocks were in demand on bargain hunting after recent slide. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive.
In a bout of initial volatility, key benchmark indices pared entire gains after opening higher tracking mostly firm Asian stocks. The CNX Nifty slipped below the psychological 6,000 mark after regaining that mark at the onset of the trading session. It weakened to hit fresh intraday low in morning trade. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex and the 50-unit CNX Nifty, both, hit their lowest level in 2-1/2 weeks. It regained positive terrain in mid-morning trade. It regained strength in early afternoon trade. Key benchmark indices pared gains amid volatility in afternoon trade.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 316.23 crore on Thursday, 23 May 2013, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
At 13:20 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 11.11 points or 0.06% to 19,685.44. The index declined 105.84 points at the day's low of 19,568.49 in morning trade, its lowest level since 6 May 2013. The index jumped 158.81 points at the day's high of 19,833.14 in early trade.
The CNX Nifty was up 11.30 points or 0.19% to 5978.35. The index hit a high of 6,015.30 in intraday trade. The index hit a low of 5,936.80 in intraday trade, its lowest level since 6 May 2013.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1,058 shares rose and 1,034 shares fell. A total of 140 shares were unchanged.
The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 1296 crore by 13:20 IST.
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Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 16 stocks fell and the rest of them rose. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 2.92%), Hindalco Industries (down 2.94%) and TCS (down 1.59%) edged lower from the Sensex pack.
Tata Power Company (up 2.84%), ICICI Bank (up 2.13%) and NTPC (up 1.35%) edged higher from the Sensex pack.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 0.1% to Rs 785.90. The stock hit high of Rs 795 and low of Rs 780 so far during the day.
Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC fell 0.8% to Rs 329.60. The stock hit high of Rs 335.70 and low of Rs 328.90 so far during the day. The stock had hit record high of Rs 355 in intraday trade on 11 May 2013. The company's net profit rose 19.43% to Rs 1927.98 crore on 19.12% growth in total income to Rs 8511.38 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q4 March 2012. The result was announced on 17 May 2013. ITC's net profit rose 20.38% to Rs 7418.39 crore on 18.74% growth in total income to Rs 30839.97 crore in the year ended March 2013 over the year ended March 2012.
On a consolidated basis, ITC's net profit rose 21.57% to Rs 7608.07 crore on 19.02% growth in total income to Rs 32505.14 crore in the year ended March 2013 over the year ended March 2012.
ITC's board of directors at its meeting held on Friday, 17 May 2013, recommended a dividend of Rs 5.25 per share for the financial year ended 31 March 2013.
Capital goods shares were in demand on bargain hunting after recent fall. ABB (up 5.98%), BEML (up 0.7%), Bharat Electronics (up 0.89%), Siemens (up 1.45%) gained.
L&T rose 2.97% on bargain hunting after the stock fell 12.59% in the preceding four trading sessions to Rs 1,418.65 on 23 May 2013, from a recent high of Rs 1,623.05 on 17 May 2013 triggered by the company's disappointing Q4 March 2013 result, which was announced during market hours on Wednesday, 22 May 2013.
L&T reported 6.9% fall in net profit to Rs 1787.94 crore on 9.9% rise in total income to Rs 20686.93 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q4 March 2012.
Bharat Heavy Electricals slipped 1.66%, with the stock extending Thursday's 3.74% fall triggered after reporting poor Q4 results during market hours on Thursday, 23 May 2013.
Bhel reported 4.2% fall in net profit to Rs 3237.54 crore on 2.2% decline in net sales to Rs 18850.16 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q4 March 2012.
Adani Power rose 3.10% on bargain hunting after the stock tumbled 9.56% in the preceding two trading sessions to Rs 54.85 on 23 May 2013, from a recent high of Rs 60.65 on 21 May 2013.
Tata Steel jumped 4.17% as the company's consolidated earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 27.75% to Rs 4368 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q4 March 2012. The result was announced after market hours on Thursday, 23 May 2013.
Consolidated EBITDA margin improved to 12.6% in Q4 March 2013, from 10.1% in Q4 March 2012 and 7% in Q3 December 2012.
Tata Steel reported consolidated net loss of Rs 6529 crore in Q4 March 2013, as against net profit of Rs 433 crore in Q4 March 2012. Turnover rose 1.91% to Rs 34650 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q4 March 2012.
The primary reason behind Tata Steel reporting net loss in Q4 March 2013 and FY 2013 was due to the non-cash impairment charge of Rs 8356 crore in Q4 March 2013. Tata Steel said that the Eurozone crisis has pushed regional economies in Europe and UK into a recession and the current steel demand is almost 30% lower than the pre-2008 financial crisis level. These severely depressed conditions are expected to continue over the short-to-medium term and have led to a downward revision of cashflow expectations and the valuation of the Groups' European operations.
Reflecting these conditions, the Group took an impairment charge of Rs 8356 crore in Q4 March 2013. This is a non-cash charge and does not affect any of its financial covenants and its funding position, the company said. A significant portion of this impairment charge relates partly to the goodwill created on the acquisition of Corus Group plc in 2007 and partly to the assets of the business units that have been adversely affected by the severe contraction in demand, especially in the construction sector, Tata Steel said. The balance impairment relates to the assets in Tata Steel KZN in South Africa, Tata Steel Thailand and Tata Metaliks for Redi Plant, the company added.
Tata Steel Managing Director Mr. HM Nerurkar said, "Despite the weakening market conditions in the last year, the Indian operations posted a strong growth in production and deliveries. Our investment over the years in customer relationship building, developing distribution chain, undertaking market research and retail focus paid dividend through the significant sequential increase in deliveries in the last quarter. I convey my heartiest congratulations to all the employees for achieving this commendable performance. The brownfield expansion is now fully ramped up and we are committed to commissioning the greenfield plant in Odisha on schedule. The South East Asian operations have performed well with improving demand, product differentiation, efficiency improvement and restructuring measures."
Tata Steel Europe MD & CEO Dr Karl-Ulrich Kler said, "Europe's economic deterioration last year reversed the modest recovery in European steel demand that had been going on since 2009 and our deliveries fell as a consequence. We acted decisively in response to the renewed downturn by focusing intensely on costs and cash flow management. We took $250 million of cost out of the business and reduced our steel stocks to record lows by year-end. We also acted to restructure our support functions and asset base. But we did not allow the downturn to divert us from our longerterm objective of building an all-weather business. We invested significantly in improvements to our operational base and we made substantial progress in strengthening our long-term relationships with end customers in our chosen sectors. And we increased the proportion of high-value, differentiated products and services in our sales, which have risen by almost 20% in the last two years. These improvements have given us a firmer foundation as we enter another tough year of subdued steel demand in Europe."
As per the Q4 results calendar, Coal India unveils consolidated FY 2013 results on Monday, 27 May 2013. Sun Pharma, Power Grid Corporation of India, GAIL (India) and Hindalco Industries unveil Q4 results on 28 May 2013. Tata Motors, ONGC, Cipla, NMDC and BPCL unveil Q4 results on 29 May 2013. DLF, M&M and Tata Power unveil Q4 results on 30 May 2013.
Global credit rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) on 17 May 2013, affirmed India's sovereign rating at BBB-minus with a negative outlook, reiterating there was a one-in-three chances of a ratings downgrade over the next 12 months. S&P said the government's ability to prop up investment growth remains uncertain. The ratings agency, however, said there was scope to upgrade the sovereign ratings if the government unleashes public and private investments to spur economic growth.
The monsoon rains may arrive on the southern coast around 3 June 2013, the weather office forecast on 15 May 2013. The rains, which run from June to September, are vital for the 55% of farmland without irrigation in India, one of the world's largest producers and consumers of food. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted normal rains this year.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) undertakes mid-quarter review of the monetary policy on 17 June 2013. RBI Governor D Subbarao on 14 May 2013 said that the central bank will take note of falling inflation when discussing potential interest rate cuts. The RBI on 3 May 2013 cut its key policy rate viz. the repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 7.25% and kept the cash reserve ratio (CRR) for banks unchanged at 4% after a monetary policy review. RBI said at that time that the balance of risks stemming from its assessment of the growth-inflation dynamic provides little space for further monetary easing. The RBI said it will endeavour to condition the evolution of inflation to a level of 5% by March 2014, using all instruments at its command.
The finance ministry in October 2012 announced a five-year plan to cut fiscal deficit. The government hopes to reduce the fiscal deficit to 3% by March 2017.
European stock markets opened higher on Friday, partly recovering from a sharp selloff the prior day, with investors awaiting a reading on German business confidence to gauge if the region's powerhouse is gaining momentum. Key benchmark indices in UK, France and Germany were up by 0.15% to 0.42%.
Most Asian stocks rose on Friday. Key benchmark indices in China, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia rose by 0.22% to 0.89%. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong and Taiwan shed by 0.13% to 0.34%. Markets in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka are closed today for holidays.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could gain 15 points at the opening bell on Friday, 24 May 2013. U.S. stocks fell modestly on Thursday, substantially paring intraday losses after upbeat U.S. economic reports and gains for Hewlett-Packard Co. countered worries about the Federal Reserve potentially tapering its bond-buying program.
Economic data on Thursday showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, while new single family home sales rose.
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