Key benchmark indices edged higher in early trade on higher Asian stocks. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 128.14 points or 0.67%, up close to 115 points from the day's low and off about 30 points from the day's high. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) edged higher in early trade. Another index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC hit record high. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong.
Jindal Steel & Power rose ahead of its Q4 results today, 25 April 2013. Axis Bank rose after strong Q4 results. Jet Airways (India) surged nearly 13% after United Arab Emirates-based Etihad Airways on Wednesday, 24 April 2013, agreed to pick up a 24% strategic stake in the Indian carrier at a huge premium to the ruling market price. Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services surged nearly 7% on robust Q4 results.
The market may remain volatile today, 25 April 2013, as traders roll over positions in the futures & options (F&O) segment from the near month April 2013 series to May 2013 series. The April 2013 F&O contracts expire today, 25 April 2013.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 226.21 crore on Tuesday, 23 April 2013, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
At 9:26 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 128.14 points or 0.67% to 19,307.50. The index jumped 159.42 points at the day's high of 19,338.78 in early trade. The index rose 12.75 points at the day's low of 19,192.11 in opening trade.
The CNX Nifty was up 40.85 points or 0.7% to 5,877.75. The index hit a high of 5,887.85 in intraday trade. The index hit a low of 5,853.30 in intraday trade.
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The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 674 shares advanced and 283 shares declined. A total of 43 shares were unchanged.
Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 24 stocks gained while rest of them fell.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 1.13% to Rs 812.55. The company's telecom arm -- Reliance Jio Infocomm -- and Bharti Airtel on Tuesday, 23 April 2013, signed an agreement for international data connectivity under which Bharti will provide Reliance Jio data capacity on its i2i submarine cable. i2i connects India to Singapore and is wholly owned by Bharti. Reliance Jio will utilize a dedicated fiber pair on i2i. The high speed link will enable Reliance Jio to extend its network and service reach to customers across Asia Pacific region.
Earlier, at the time of announcement of its Q4 results, RIL on 16 April 2013 said that the company is working towards next wave of projects to exploit the undeveloped discovered resources in KG-D6 gas field targeted over the net 3-5 years. RIL has submitted an Integrated Block Development Plan (IBDP) for four discoveries in NEC -25 block (D-32, D-40, D-9 and D-10) proposing for a phased manner development. First gas is expected by mid-2019 subject to timely approvals.
Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC rose 0.43% to Rs 318.75. The stock hit record high of Rs 319.25 in early trade today, 25 April 2013. The government raised the excise duty on cigarettes by about 18% on all cigarettes except cigarettes of length not exceeding 65 mm in Union Budget 2013-14, which was unveiled on 28 February 2013.
Jindal Steel & Power rose 0.12% ahead of its Q4 results today, 25 April 2013.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) declined 0.63%. The company after market hours on Tuesday, 23 April 2013 announced the launch of its Intelligent Testing System (ITS) solution, designed to help customers automate the testing lifecycle. The new solution is being developed through TCS' existing partnership with CA Technologies and combines TCS' innovative process and automation tools with CA LISA Service Virtualization software. TCS is premiering this new offering, which will be generally available in May 2013, at CA World 2013 in Las Vegas, NV. ITS features engineering-based accelerators and built-in agile tools and will allow TCS and CA Technologies customers to automate the entire test cycle, reduce dependency on components and provide faster time to market, leading to higher quality while minimizing costs.
TCS posted good Q4 results last week. Its consolidated net profit rose 1.9% to Rs 3616 crore on 2.2% growth in revenue to Rs 16430 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q3 December 2012. Net profit jumped 33.6% to Rs 13917 crore on 28.8% growth in revenue to Rs 62989 crore in the year ended 31 March 2013 (FY 2013) over the year ended 31 March 2012 (FY 2012). The company clocked volume growth of 16.8% in FY 2013 over FY 2012.
At a post result conference call held on 17 April 2013, TCS' management said it expects FY 2014 to be better year than FY 2013 and anticipates defending the margins in narrow band despite the headwinds from the wage hikes through other levers.
Axis Bank rose 1.05% on strong Q4 results. The bank's net profit rose 21.75% to Rs 1555.15 crore on 18.39% growth in total income to Rs 9054.72 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q4 March 2012. The bank announced Q4 results on Wednesday, 24 April 2013.
The bank's net interest income jumped 24.16% to Rs 2664.66 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q4 March 2012. Other Income comprising fees, trading profit and miscellaneous income jumped 26.43% to Rs 2007.17 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q4 March 2012, driven by fee income and trading profit. The bank's fee income jumped 22% to Rs 1618 crore. Trading income jumped 63% Rs 238 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q4 March 2012.
Axis Bank said that its retail franchise continued to show strong growth in Q4 March 2013. CASA plus retail term deposits constituted 68% of the bank's total deposits as on 31 March 2013. Axis Bank said its quality remains stable with the ratio of net non-performing assets to net advances at 0.32% as on 31 March 2013, lower than 0.33% as on 31 December 2012.
Axis Bank said that the bank is well capitalised with equity capital of Rs 5537 crore raised in Q4 March 2013. The bank said that it is well positioned for growth with a healthy capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 17%, and Tier-I CAR at 12.23% as on 31 March 2013.
Jet Airways (India) surged 12.89%. Jet Airways (India) and United Arab Emirates (UAE) based Etihad Airways on Wednesday, 24 April 2013, announced that Etihad Airways has agreed to subscribe to 2.72 crore new shares of Jet Airways at a price of Rs 754.74 per share. The value of this equity investment is $379 million and will result in Etihad Airways holding 24% of the enlarged share capital of Jet Airways. Etihad Airways' wider overall commitment to Jet Airways includes the injection of $220 million to create and strengthen a wide-ranging partnership between the two carriers. As part of this, Etihad Airways paid $70 million to purchase Jet Airways' three pairs of Heathrow slots through the sale and lease back agreement announced on 27 February 2013. Jet Airways continues to operate flights to London utilising these slots.
An amount of $150 million will be invested by Etihad Airways by way of a majority equity investment in Jet Airways' frequent flyer program "Jet Privilege", subject to appropriate regulatory and corporate approvals and final commercial agreements which are expected to be completed within the next six months.
Under the strategic partnership, which will be subject to full regulatory and shareholder approval, the airlines will gradually expand existing operations and introduce new routes between India and Abu Dhabi, providing an ever wider choice to the travelling public. They will combine their network of 140 destinations, with Jet Airways establishing a Gulf gateway in Abu Dhabi and expanding its reach through Etihad Airways' growing global network.
Passengers from 23 cities in India will benefit from direct connections to international destinations. New flights from Jet Airways' home hubs and metro airports will further strengthen its current operations from these airports. Jet Airways' vision continues to be to develop Delhi and Mumbai airports as its primary home hubs and connecting them to Asian, European and other regions.
A key component of the wide-ranging partnership is expanded codesharing on flights with passengers benefiting from reciprocal 'earn-and-burn' rights on the airlines' frequent flyer programs. The proposed codeshare expansion will significantly enable Etihad Airways to tap into India's rapidly growing travel market, providing additional passenger traffic to Etihad Airways' Middle Eastern, North American and European destinations, and give Jet Airways passengers from various cities access to an expanded network.
Key benefits for both airlines will flow from synergies and cost savings in areas including fleet acquisition, maintenance, product development and training. The airlines will explore joint purchasing opportunities for fuel, spare parts, equipment and catering supplies, as well as external services such as insurance and technology support.
Other areas of co-operation will include joint training of pilots, cabin crew and engineers, as well as maintenance of common aircraft types and the consolidation of guest loyalty programs. A joint project management office will be set up to ensure delivery of all synergy benefits to both parties.
Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services surged 6.89% after strong Q4 results. The company's consolidated net profit rose 42.89% to Rs 346.36 crore on 33.35% growth in total income to Rs 1189.32 crore in Q4 March 2013 over Q4 March 2012. The net profit for Q4 March 2013 includes profit of Rs 30 crore arising from exceptional item on account of profit on stake sale of the company's subsidiary MIBL amounting to Rs 66 crore and additional general provision on standard assets amounting to Rs 36 crore on prudent basis from the current year. The company announced Q4 results after market hours on Tuesday, 23 April 2013.
Meanwhile, the board of Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services approved increasing the borrowing limit from Rs 30000 crore to Rs 38000 crore, in order to further expand its business and to meet its increased financial needs. The proposal is subject to shareholders' approval through postal ballot process.
The focus of the market is on Q4 results. Hero MotoCorp, ICICI Bank and Maruti Suzuki unveil Q4 results tomorrow, 26 April 2013. IDFC announces Q4 results on 1 May 2013. Bharti Airtel and Kotak Mahindra Bank unveil Q4 results on 2 May 2013. ACC and Ambuja Cements announce Q1 March 2013 results on 3 May 2013. Grasim announces Q4 March 2013 results on 4 May 2013. HDFC unveils Q4 results on 8 May 2013. Ranbaxy announces Q1 March 2013 results on the same day. Dr. Reddys Laboratories announces Q4 results on 14 May 2013. Bajaj Auto announces Q4 results on 16 May 2013. BPCL announces Q4 results on 29 May 2013.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will announce the Monetary Policy Statement 2013-14 on 3 May 2013. The RBI cut its key policy rate viz. the repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.5% after a mid-quarter monetary policy review on 19 March 2013. Inflation based on the monthly wholesale price index (WPI) eased the lowest level in 40 months at 5.96% in March 2013, and sharply lower than 6.84% in February 2013, data released by the government on 15 April 2013 showed. Non-food manufacturing inflation or core inflation slowed further to 3.41% in March 2013, the data showed.
Parliament reconvened for the second half of the Budget Session Monday, 22 April 2013. The session ends on 10 May 2013.
Most Asian stocks edged higher on Thursday as investors weighed earnings reports and energy shares led gains. Key benchmark indices in China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea rose by 0.17% to 1.09%. Key benchmark indices in Indonesia and Taiwan fell by 0.04% to 0.6%.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended flat on Wednesday with Boeing's five-year high among the day's highlights, but weakness in Procter & Gamble and AT&T kept the Dow Jones Industrial Average in negative territory. Economic data showed orders for US durable goods fell in March by the most in seven months as demand slumped for commercial aircraft and business investment cooled.
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