A bout of volatility was witnessed as key benchmark indices once again regained positive zone after slipping into the red from green in afternoon trade. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was weak. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was currently trading above the psychological 29,000 mark, having alternately moved above and below that level in intraday trade so far. The Sensex had fallen below the psychological 29,000 mark after yesterday's slide. The Sensex was currently up 56.90 points or 0.20% at 29,032.01. The BSE Small-Cap and Mid-Cap indices, both, hovered in red.
Meanwhile, the government introduced the land acquisition amendment bill in the Lok Sabha today, 24 February 2015, amid uproar by the Opposition.
Shares of power generation companies declined. Coal India rose. FMCG stocks were mixed. Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC rose after the company market hours yesterday, 23 February 2015, said it has been declared as the successful bidder for Park Hyatt Hotel located at Cansaulim in Goa along with land and built up area of the hotel together with all buildings and structures and plant & machineries.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 601.91 crore yesterday, 23 February 2015, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 163.79 crore yesterday, 23 February 2015, as per provisional data.
The market may remain volatile this week as traders roll over positions in the futures & options (F&O) segment from the near month February 2015 series to March 2015 series. The near month February 2015 derivatives contracts expire on Thursday, 26 February 2015.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar.
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Brent crude oil futures edged lower in choppy trade.
In overseas markets, Asian stocks edged higher ahead of US Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen's testimony before the Senate Banking Committee which begins later in the global day. Most US stocks edged lower in choppy trading session yesterday, 23 February 2015, as crude oil prices dropped.
At 13:19 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 56.90 points or 0.20% at 29,032.01. The index gained 79.71 points at the day's high of 29,054.82 in early trade. The index fell 57.48 points at the day's low of 28,917.63 in mid-morning trade.
The CNX Nifty was up 12.35 points or 0.14% at 8,767.30. The index hit a high of 8,777.40 in intraday trade. The index hit a low of 8,736.90 in intraday trade.
The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was weak. On BSE, shares 1,592 declined and 1,056 shares gained. A total of 110 shares were unchanged.
The BSE Mid-Cap index was off 7.23 points or 0.07% at 10,738.19. The BSE Small-Cap index was off 73.49 points or 0.65% at 11,315.99. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
Coal India (CIL) was up 0.74%. The company announced during trading hours that its board in its meeting held on 13 February 2015 directed that CIL should withdraw from International Coal Ventures (ICVL). In a separate announcement during trading hours, CIL said that it had earlier intimated stock exchanges about the approval of the project report by CIL board to set up 2x800 megawatts (MW) coal based super-critical thermal power Plant (STPP) at Hemgir (Sundergarh, Odisha) by CIL subsidiary Mahanadi Coalfields (MCL) through its subsidiary Mahanadi Basin Power (MBPL) with a total capital investment of Rs 11363.18 crore. However, while confirming the minutes of a previous held board meeting, CIL board on 13 February 2015 reviewed its decision and accorded its approval for the 1st year expenditure of Rs 1019 crore to start the work on this project. The board also advised that as soon as Coal India has full board, the proposal will be placed for its consideration for the approval of Project Report (PR).
Shares of power generation companies declined. Adani Power (down 1.4%), Reliance Infrastructure (down 1.26%), NHPC (down 1.19%), Tata Power (down 0.88%), CESC (down 0.87%), Torrent Power (down 0.43%), Jaiprakash Power Ventures (down 0.41%) and GMR Infrastructure (down 0.27%), edged lower. JSW Energy (up 0.09%), Reliance Power (up 0.48%) and NTPC (up 1.37%), edged higher.
FMCG stocks were mixed. Godrej Consumer Products (up 2.05%), Hindustan Unilever (up 1.64%), Britannia Industries (up 1.18%), Colgate(down Palmolive (India) (up 0.66%), GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (up 0.65%), Nestle India (up 0.26%), Dabur India (up 0.23%), edged higher. Tata Global Beverages (down 0.71%), Marico (down 0.77%), Bajaj Corp (down 0.88%), Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care (down 0.92%) and Jyothy Laboratories (down 2.38%), edged lower.
Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC rose 1.27% to Rs 395.10. ITC after market hours yesterday, 23 February 2015, said it has been declared as the successful bidder for Park Hyatt Hotel located at Cansaulim in Goa along with land and built up area of the hotel together with all buildings and structures and plant & machineries. The aforesaid assets of Blue Coast Hotels were put up on sale by IFCI through public auction under the provisions of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002, ITC said in a statement. IFCI has declared ITC as the successful bidder at the bid price of Rs 515.44 crore and ITC has remitted 25% of bid amount being Rs 128.86 crore as per the terms of the Tender Document. Further, ITC has been advised to remit 75% of the balance amount within 15 days for the confirmation of sale, IFCI said.
Shares of IFCI rose 1.22%.
Tech Mahindra rose 0.68% after the company announced during trading hours that it collaborated with IBM to accelerate global hybrid cloud adoption. IBM will work with Tech Mahindra to build a platform for the development of cloud-based apps for its clients on Bluemix Dedicated, a single-tenant version of Bluemix. Through this alliance, IBM will provide an open, flexible cloud environment to enable Tech Mahindra's developers to build cloud-native and cloud enabled applications with a scalable model.
ABB India was down 1.94%. ABB India announced during trading hours that it became the first company to reach sales of a cumulative capacity of 1 gigawatt (GW) solar inverters. This milestone was marked today, 24 February 2015, with the roll out of an order for Tata Power Solar's project for Kiran Energy Solar Power. ABB India commenced local manufacturing of solar inverters in 2012 and has since grown in partnership with key industry customers, the company said in a statement.
Suzlon Energy was up 3.17%. Suzlon Group announced during trading hours that it has successfully completed installing and commissioning of over 350 megawatts (MW) wind energy in Brazil over a period of 16 months upto November 2014 with bulk of 309 MW being added in calendar year 2014. This combined capacity includes projects located in the high wind states of Rio Grande do Norte & Ceara in Brazil.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 62.27, compared with its close of 62.3125 during the previous trading session.
Brent crude oil futures edged lower in choppy trade. Brent for April settlement was off 37 cents at $58.53 a barrel. The contract had dropped $1.32 a barrel to settle at $58.90 a barrel during the previous trading session.
Meanwhile, the government introduced the land acquisition amendment bill in the Lok Sabha today, 24 February 2015, amid uproar by the Opposition. The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill 2015 will replace an ordinance which had been promulgated by the NDA government on 30 December 2014. The Opposition parties, led by the Congress, vociferously opposed the bill on the floor of the house.
Meanwhile, the stock exchanges have decided to keep the stock market open on Saturday, 28 February 2015, just like any other normal trading session when the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presents the first full-fledged Budget of the Narendra Modi government. Trading will start at 9:15 IST and conclude at 15:30 IST. Jaitley will begin his speech at 11:00 IST in Lok Sabha on 28 February 2015 as he tables the Union Budget 2015-16 in the parliament.
The Railway Budget 2015-16 will be tabled in the parliament by rail minister Suresh Prabhu on Thursday, 26 February 2015. The Economic Survey will be tabled on Friday, 27 February 2015.
The next major event for the financial markets is Union Budget for 2015-16. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will present Union Budget 2015-16 in Parliament on Saturday, 28 February 2015. Analysts will scrutinize measures in the Budget for financing infrastructure projects as well as the government's own capital expenditure on infrastructure for the year ahead. This is the first full fledged Budget of the Narendra Modi government and analysts will look for a roadmap for economic growth for the next few years.
Changes in rates of dividend distribution tax, capital gains tax on sale of shares, Securities Transaction Tax (STT) and Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT), if any, will be closely watched. The dividend distribution tax is currently at 15%. The minimum alternate tax is currently at 18.5% of book profits. Short term capital gains tax on sale of shares is currently at 15% while there is zero long capital gains tax on sale of shares held for a period of more than one year.
Analysts are awaiting further progress on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) during the ongoing Budget session of Parliament after the Constitution Amendment Bill for the introduction of GST was tabled in the Lok Sabha during the winter session of parliament. GST, touted as the single biggest indirect taxation reforms since independence, will simplify and harmonise the indirect tax regime in the country. Central taxes like Central Excise Duty, Additional Excise Duties, Service Tax, Additional Customs Duty (CVD) and Special Additional Duty of Customs (SAD), etc. will be subsumed in GST. At the state level, taxes like VAT/Sales Tax, Central Sales Tax, Entertainment Tax, Octroi and Entry Tax, Purchase Tax and Luxury Tax, etc. would be subsumed in GST.
Asian stocks edged higher today, 24 February 2015 before the US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen speaks to lawmakers. Key benchmark indices in Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia and South Korea rose by 0.23% to 1.05%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell by 0.38%. China's mainland markets remain closed today, 24 February 2015 for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Markit Economics will tomorrow, 25 February 2015, announce preliminary reading of China's HSBC PMI index for February 2015, indicating health of China's manufacturing activity for that month.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could rise 14 points at the opening bell today, 24 February 2015. US stocks ended mixed yesterday, 23 February 2015 as lower oil prices dragged down energy shares. In economic data, sales of previously owned US homes fell in January as a tight supply forced up prices, showing the residential real-estate market faces an uneven recovery. Purchases slowed 4.9% to a 4.82 million annualized rate, the least since April, according to figures from the National Association of Realtors yesterday, 23 February 2015.
Investors will receive further clues on the central bank's assessment of the economy and the timing of a rate increase when Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen gives two days of testimony to Congressional finance committees starting today, 24 February 2015.
Meanwhile, Greece yesterday, 23 February 2015, finalised measures which include plans to combat tax evasion and tackling fuel and tobacco smuggling in order to secure a bailout extension. Greece had previously delayed presenting the reforms by 24 hours. Euro zone finance ministers would today, 24 February 2015, discuss Greece's plans as scheduled earlier.
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