Weakness continued on the bourses in afternoon trade. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 104.53 points or 0.5%, off 44.22 points from the day's high and up 29.41 points from the day's low. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. Weakness in Asian stocks hit sentiment on the domestic bourses adversely.
Tata Power Company reversed initial fall in volatile trade. Realty stocks rose. Hospitality shares rose across the board, with shares of Indian Hotels hitting 52-week high. Among side counters, Apollo Tyres, eClerx Services and NIIT Technologies hits record high.
The market edged lower in early trade on weak Asian stocks. A bout of volatility was witnessed as key benchmark indices trimmed losses after hitting fresh intraday low in morning trade. Volatility continued as key benchmark indices weakened once again after trimming intraday losses in mid-morning trade. Weakness continued on the bourses in afternoon trade.
Asian stocks edged lower on Thursday, 20 February 2014, after a Chinese manufacturing index dropped more than estimated this month.
At 13:15 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 104.53 points or 0.5% to 20,618.44. The index dropped 133.94 points at the day's low of 20,589.03 in early trade, its lowest level since 18 February 2014. The index fell 60.31 points at the day's high of 20,662.66 in mid-morning trade.
The CNX Nifty was down 35.90 points or 0.58% to 6,116.85. The index hit a low of 6,105.50 in intraday trade, its lowest level since 18 February 2014. The index hit a high of 6,129.10 in intraday trade.
The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 8.77 points or 0.14% at 6,385.71 and the BSE Small-Cap index was up 3.03 points or 0.05% at 6,375.23. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
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The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 1,317 shares fell and 1,072 shares rose. A total of 159 shares were unchanged.
The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 1039 crore by 13:15 IST.
Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 23 stocks fell and rest rose. ICICI Bank (down 1.99%), Bharti Airtel (down 1.93%) and Tata Steel (down 1.59%) edged lower from the Sensex pack.
Bajaj Auto (up 1.79%), Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (up 1.32%) and TCS (up 0.61%) edged higher from the Sensex pack.
Tata Power Company rose 0.84% to Rs 78.35, with the stock reversing initial fall in volatile trade. The stock hit a high of Rs 79.80 and low of Rs 76.10 so far during the day.
Realty stocks edged higher. DLF (up 0.96%), Indiabulls Real Estate (up 0.79%), HDIL (up 1.22%), Unitech (up 0.26%), Godrej Properties (up 0.67%), Oberoi Realty (up 2.75%) and Parsvnath Developers (up 0.39%) gained.
Hospitality shares rallied on renewed buying. EIH (up 6.05%), Hotel Leelaventure (up 4.64%), Taj GVK Hotels & Resorts (up 8.04%), EIH Associated Hotels (up 5%) surged.
Indian Hotels jumped 12.02% to Rs 67.55 after hitting a 52-week high of Rs 68.50 in intraday trade.
Apollo Tyres gained 3.35% to Rs 123.55 after hitting a record high of Rs 123.95 in intraday trade today, 20 February 2014.
eClerx Services jumped 9.61% to Rs 1,346.05 after hitting a record high of Rs 1,370.05 in intraday trade today, 20 February 2014.
NIIT Technologies gained 3.42% to Rs 450.85 after hitting a record high of Rs 466.30 in intraday trade today, 20 February 2014.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar on concern inflows will slow after a Federal Reserve report on Wednesday, 19 February 2014, showed support for a plan to reduce monetary stimulus for the US economy. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 62.28, compared with its close of 62.20/21 on Tuesday, 18 February 2014. The Indian currency, bond and money markets were closed on Wednesday, 19 February 2014, for a holiday.
The Reserve Bank of India next undertakes monetary policy review 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.
Asian stocks edged lower on Thursday, 20 February 2014, after a Chinese manufacturing index dropped more than estimated this month. Key benchmark indices in Indonesia, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea were off by 0.09% to 2.15%.
China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.18%. A Chinese manufacturing index fell to the lowest level in seven months in February, adding to challenges for Communist Party officials grappling with risks to the financial system from trust defaults and soured loans. The preliminary February reading of 48.3 for a Purchasing Managers' Index released today by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics compares with January's final figure of 49.5. A number below 50 indicates contraction.
Japan's trade deficit widened more than expected to 2.79 trillion ($27.2 billion) in January, compared to December's 1.30 trillion, data released by the Japanese government today, 20 February 2014, showed. Imports rose 25% from a year earlier and outbound shipments gained 9.5%.
Singapore's economy expanded last quarter after a pick-up in manufacturing at the year end, with the government predicting an improvement in overseas demand in 2014 amid a global recovery. Gross domestic product rose an annualized 6.1% in the three months through December from the previous quarter, when it climbed a revised 0.3%, the trade ministry said in a statement today.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could drop 50 points at the opening bell on Thursday, 20 February 2014. US stocks edged lower on Wednesday, 19 February 2014, after data showed US housing starts sank last month by the most in almost three years and after the Federal Reserve indicated stimulus cuts will likely continue. Construction on new US homes tumbled 16% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 880,000, with drops for single-family homes and apartments, according to Commerce Department. Building permits, a sign of future demand, fell to the lowest rate since August. US producer prices rose in January under the government's new formula for measuring wholesale inflation, the Labor Department said on Wednesday, 19 February 2014.
Federal Reserve policy makers backed away from their year-old commitment to consider raising interest rates when unemployment falls below 6.5%, according to minutes of their January meeting released on Wednesday, 19 February 2014. With joblessness falling faster than expected even as other labor-market indicators show weakness, policy makers agreed it would "soon be appropriate" to revise their guidance about how long the era of record-low interest rates will remain, the minutes showed. "Several" Federal Reserve officials said that in "the absence of an appreciable change in the economic outlook, there should be a clear presumption in favor of continuing to reduce the pace" of bond buying at each meeting, the minutes showed.
Ahead of the release of the Fed minutes, Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart on Wednesday, 19 February 2014, said he expects a mid-2015 interest-rate hike.
Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen said last week that US growth has strengthened and that only a "notable change in the outlook" for the economy would prompt policy makers to slow the pace of cuts to the monthly bond-buying program.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) next undertakes monetary policy review on 18-19 March 2014. After a monetary policy review, the FOMC on 29 January 2014 announced it will reduce monthly bond purchases by another $10 billion to $65 billion.
The International Monetary Fund, in a staff report prepared for central bankers and finance ministers from the Group of 20, said Wednesday, 19 February 2014, that significant downside risks remain for the world economy. Risks of prolonged market turmoil in emerging markets and of deflation in the euro area are threatening the world's improved economic prospects, IMF staff wrote in the report. The ministers meet this weekend in Sydney.
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