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Hindalco gains as LIC hikes stake

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Last Updated : Jun 19 2015 | 12:13 PM IST

Firmness continued on the bourses in mid-morning trade. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was currently up 214.04 points or 0.79% at 27,329.87. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was strong. In overseas markets, Asian stocks rose after a rally in US stocks overnight which materialized a day after the Federal Reserve signaled it would move more slowly on raising interest rates.

Bank stocks edged higher on renewed buying. Hindalco Industries edged higher after the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) hiked its stake in the company to 13.337% from 11.328% in the last two months. L&T edged higher after the company said that its construction division has secured orders worth Rs 2278 crore across various business segments in May and June 2015.

Earlier, the Sensex and the 50-unit CNX Nifty, both, hit their highest level in more than two weeks in morning trade as these two key benchmark indices extended initial gains

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 784.73 crore yesterday, 18 June 2015, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1110.01 crore yesterday, 18 June 2015, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

In overseas stock markets, Asian stocks edged higher after a rally in US stocks overnight which materialized a day after the Federal Reserve signaled it would move more slowly on raising interest rates. US stocks advanced sharply yesterday, 18 June 2015, sending the Nasdaq Composite and the Russell 2000 to record highs, while the main indexes recorded their third consecutive day of gains.

At 11:15 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 214.04 points or 0.79% at 27,329.87. The index jumped 228.68 points at the day's high of 27,344.51 in morning trade, its highest level since 2 June 2015. The index rose 86.55 points at the day's low of 27,202.38 in early trade.

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The CNX Nifty was up 57.10 points or 0.7% at 8,231.70. The index hit a high of 8,233.45 in intraday trade, its highest level since 3 June 2015. The index hit a low of 8,195.65 in intraday trade.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 74.86 points or 0.72% at 10,502.02. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 69.39 points or 0.64% at 10,981.09. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was strong. On BSE, 1,323 shares rose and 794 shares fell. A total of 111 shares were unchanged.

Bank stocks edged higher on renewed buying. Among public sector banks, UCO Bank (up 1.06%), Corporation Bank (up 0.88%), Central Bank of India (up 0.56%), State Bank of India (up 0.76%), IDBI Bank (up 0.57%), Punjab National Bank (up 0.64%) and Bank of Baroda (up 0.39%) edged higher. Union Bank of India (down 0.35%), Syndicate Bank (down 0.24%) and United Bank of India (down 0.21%) edged lower.

Bank of Maharashtra dropped as the stock turned ex-dividend today, 19 June 2015 for dividend of Rs 0.80 per share for the year ended 31 March 2015. The stock was off 1.36% at Rs 36.40.

Among private sector banks, Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 0.87%), IndusInd Bank (up 1.08%), ICICI Bank (up 0.41%), Axis Bank (up 0.39%) and HDFC Bank (up 0.28%) edged higher.

Yes Bank was up 0.3% at Rs 824.95. The stock hit a high of Rs 829.50 and a low of Rs 822.15 so far during the day. Yes Bank after market hours yesterday, 18 June 2015, said that in a fresh notice of motion filed by Mrs. Madhu Kapur, on 17 June 2015, the ad-interim reliefs of seeking of stay on Mr. Diwan Arun Nanda and Mr. M R Srinivasan assuming office as non-executive directors on the board of Yes Bank have been rejected by the Bombay High Court. Thus, Mr. Diwan Arun Nanda & Mr M R Srinivasan shall assume office with immediate effect, Yes Bank said.

The Court has also prima facie validated the appointment of Mr. Diwan Arun Nanda and Mr. Ajay Vohra as independent directors on the board of Yes Bank stating that their appointment at the 11th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Yes Bank held on 6 June 2015 is in compliance with the observations made by the Court in its judgment dated 4 June 2015, Yes Bank said. Further, the Court has also observed that the permission granted by the Reserve Bank of India to Mr. Diwan Arun Nanda and Mr. M.R Srinivasan cannot be the subject of an ad-interim relief and nor is the Court inclined to look behind the said permission, Yes Bank said.

Hindalco Industries edged higher after the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) hiked its stake in the company to 13.337% from 11.328% in the last two months. The stock was up 1.79% at Rs 122.25. LIC in a disclosure to the NSE after market hours yesterday, 18 June 2015, said that it had hiked its stake in Hindalco Industries to 13.337% from 11.328% during the period from 16 April 2015 to 17 June 2015 through open market purchases.

L&T edged higher after the company said that its construction division has secured orders worth Rs 2278 crore across various business segments in May and June 2015. The stock was up 1.22% at Rs 1,734.40. The announcement was made during market hours today, 19 June 2015.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its daily monsoon update issued yesterday, 18 June 2015, that the Southwest Monsoon was vigorous over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and active over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim, Konkan & Goa, Vidarbha and Telangana during past 24 hours ending at 0830 hrs. Conditions are favourable for further advance of southwest monsoon into some more parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal and remaining parts of Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Bay of Bengal during next 2-3 days, the IMD said.

For the country as a whole, the cumulative rainfall during this year's monsoon season was 11% above the Long Period Average (LPA) until 17 June 2015. Region wise, the southwest monsoon was 19% above the LPA in Central India, 16% above the LPA in East & Northeast India and 7% below the LPA in Northwest India until 17 June 2015. The rainfall was 100% of the Long Period Average in South Peninsula.

In a separate weekly monsoon report, the IMD said that the rainfall activity is expected to increase over Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and parts of Maharashtra till 20 June. During 21-25 June, rainfall is expected to increase over many parts of central and adjoining eastern and northwestern parts of the country. Thereafter, during 26-30 June, rainfall is likely to increase over Indo-Gangetic plains and northwest India. IMD said that its forecasting models are suggesting an overall decrease in monsoon rainfall over most parts of the country in the beginning of July.

The June-September southwest monsoon is critical for the country's agriculture because a considerable part of the country's farmland is dependent on the rains for irrigation.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Water Resources today, 19 June 2015, announced that the water storage available in 91 important reservoirs of the country as on 18 June 2015 was 39.05 BCM which is 25% of total storage capacity of these reservoirs. This storage is 103% of the storage of corresponding period of last year and 139% of storage of average of last ten years. The present storage position during current year is better than the storage position of last year and is also better than the storage of average of last ten years.

States having better storage than last year for corresponding period are Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Odisha, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. States having lesser storage than last year for corresponding period are Rajasthan, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana. Uttarakhand is having equal storage as compared to the storage capacity for corresponding period last year.

In overseas stock markets, Asian stocks edged higher today, 19 June 2015, after a rally in US stocks overnight which materialized a day after the Federal Reserve signaled it would move more slowly on raising interest rates. Key indices in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Indonesia were up 0.14% to 1%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was off 2.49%. Taiwan stock market was shut for a holiday.

The Bank of Japan today, 19 June 2015, said it would stick with its record 80 trillion yen annual asset-buying scheme that is aimed at jacking up prices and kick-starting growth. The Japanese central bank also said it would move to improve its communication by issuing more frequent and detailed reports on its economic outlook, while cutting the number of policy meetings to eight from the current 14 a year.

US stocks advanced sharply yesterday, 18 June 2015, sending the Nasdaq Composite and the Russell 2000 to record highs, while the main indexes recorded their third consecutive day of gains. Investors continued to cheer what they perceived as a dovish tone set by the US central bank and Chairwoman Janet Yellen following the conclusion of a two-day Fed policy meeting on Wednesday, 17 June 2015.

US consumers saw an increase in price pressures in May, rising for the fourth straight month, according to the latest data from the Department of Labor released yesterday, 18 June 2015. Consumer price index rose 0.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis last month, compared to April's rise of 0.1%.

Meanwhile , the first-time weekly jobless claims in the US fell by 12,000 claims to a seasonally adjusted 267,000 during the week ending 6th June, the Labor Department said yesterday, 18 June 2015. Continuing jobless claims, the number of people already receiving benefits and reported with a one-week delay, fell by 50,000 claims to a seasonally adjusted 2.22 million during the week ending 6th June.

In Europe, European officials and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have failed to strike a deal on Greece's bailout program, bringing the country one step closer to a dangerous default and potential exit from the eurozone, as per reports. After the talks collapsed, the EU called an emergency summit of leaders for Monday to urgently discuss the situation of Greece, reports added. Greece is still struggling to reach a reform agreement with its lenders, which would unlock the next portion of bailout money needed to repay 1.6 billion euros ($1.82 billion) to IMF by the end of June.

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First Published: Jun 19 2015 | 11:08 AM IST

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