Amid divergent trend among various constituents of the index, key benchmark indices registered modest gains. Benchmark indices saw high intraday volatility. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, and the 50-unit CNX Nifty, both hit record high in intraday trade. Shares of index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC dropped after the company reported a muted sales growth in its main cigarettes business. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was provisionally up 104.37 points or 0.36% to 28,889.04. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was negative. The BSE Mid-Cap and Small-Cap indices, both, edged lower.
Index heavyweights HDFC, Infosys, and L&T edged higher. Shares of pharmaceutical and FMCG companies were mixed. Shares of media major Zee Entertainment Enterprises edged lower on profit taking after the company reported strong Q3 December 2014 earnings.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1275.59 crore yesterday, 20 January 2015, as per provisional data.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar on optimism demand for local assets will increase as plunging oil prices improve India's economic outlook.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley yesterday, 20 January 2015, said that the success of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is a game changer for the economy as it has provided the platform for direct benefits transfer (DBT) which, in turn, will help in plugging leakages in subsidies and thereby provide savings to the exchequer.
Brent crude futures edged higher amid signs that prices are receiving support around current levels.
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In overseas markets, European shares edged lower after comments from a member of the European Central Bank's (ECB) governing council tempered expectations of monetary policy stimulus from the ECB. Chinese shares led gains in Asian stocks. US stocks eked out small gains yesterday, 20 January 2015, after seeing high intraday volatility.
As per provisional closing, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 104.37 points or 0.36% to 28,889.04. The index jumped 173.43 points at the day's high of 28,958.10 in morning trade, a lifetime high for the index. The index rose 7.90 points at the day's low of 28,792.57 in mid-morning trade.
The CNX Nifty was up 33.90 points or 0.39% at 8,729.50, as per provisional closing. The index hit a high of 8,741.85 in intraday trade, a lifetime high for the index. The index hit a low of 8,689.60 in intraday trade so far.
The BSE Mid-Cap index was off 25.57 points or 0.24% at 10,702.24. The BSE Small-Cap index was off 23.39 points or 0.20% at 11,422.88. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was negative. On BSE, 1,708 shares declined and 1,227 shares advanced. A total of 100 shares were unchanged.
The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 4466 crore, higher than turnover of Rs 3294.84 crore during the previous trading session.
Housing finance major HDFC rose 2.92% to Rs 1,287. The stock hit a high of Rs 1,296 in intraday trade, which is also a record high for the counter. The stock hit a low of Rs 1,252 in intraday trade.
L&T edged higher on renewed buying. The stock was up 1.64% to Rs 1,654.90. The stock hit a high of Rs 1,665 and a low of Rs 1,632 in intraday trade.
IT major Infosys was up 2.22% to Rs 2,169.50. The stock hit a high of Rs 2,170 and a low of Rs 2,117.30 in intraday trade.
Shares of media major Zee Entertainment Enterprises edged lower on profit taking after the company reported strong Q3 December 2014 earnings. The stock lost 2.07% at Rs 382.70. The counter was volatile after results. The stock hit high of Rs 400 and low of Rs 376.50. The stock had witnessed a pre-result rally. From a recent low of Rs 359.90 on 14 January 2015, the stock had jumped 8.58%% in 4 trading sessions to settle at Rs 390.80 yesterday, 20 January 2015.
Zee's consolidated net profit rose 44.48% to Rs 308.61 crore on 17.73% rise in total income to Rs 1443.90 crore in Q3 December 2014 over Q3 December 2013. The Q3 result was announced during market hours today, 21 January 2015. The company's consolidated operating profit (EBITDA) rose 21.5% to Rs 353.30 crore in Q3 December 2014 over Q3 December 2013.
Advertising revenue rose 8.5% to Rs 742.60 crore in Q3 December 2014 over Q3 December 2013. Excluding sports business which is event led, advertising revenues growth is in mid-to-high teens. Total subscription revenues fell 2.3% to Rs 446.10 crore in Q3 December 2014 over Q3 December 2013. The underlying growth in domestic subscription revenue is in low double digits and international subscription revenue is in high teens in rupee terms. Revenue from other sales and services surged 267.9% to Rs 175 crore in Q3 December 2014 over Q3 December 2013.
Shares of index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC dropped after the company reported a muted sales growth in its main cigarette business. The stock was off 4.88% at Rs 353.10. The stock hit high of Rs 373.60 and low of Rs 349.20 so far during the day. The company's net profit rose 10.46% to Rs 2635 crore on 2.47% growth in total income from operations (net) to Rs 8942.59 crore in Q3 December 2014 over Q3 December 2013. Segment wise results showed that sales of the cigarette division rose 0.62% to Rs 4141.94 crore in Q3 December 2014 over Q3 December 2013. Sales of the FMCG business jumped 11.37% to Rs 2314.12 crore in Q3 December 2014 over Q3 December 2013. ITC announced the third quarter results during market hours today, 21 January 2015.
ITC's non-operational income jumped 48.82% to Rs 581.99 crore in Q3 December 2014 over Q3 December 2013. ITC's operating profit rose 5.47% to Rs 3464.20 crore in Q3 December 2014 over Q3 December 2013. Operating profit margin (OPM) edged up to 38.73% in Q3 December 2014, from 37.63% in Q3 December 2013.
Shares of pharmaceutical companies were mixed. Cipla (down 2.37%), Wockhardt (down 1.89%), Strides Arcolab (down 1.26%), Divi's Laboratories (down 0.8%), Piramal Enterprise (down 0.33%), Cadila Healthcare (down 0.29%) and GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (down 0.14%), edged lower.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 1.61%), Ranbaxy Laboratories (up 1.12%), IPCA Laboratories (up 1.12%), Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (up 0.50%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 0.36%), Lupin (up 0.28%) and Aurobindo Pharma (up 0.25%), edged higher.
FMCG shares were mixed. Hindustan Unilever (up 4.09%), Bata India (up 2.19%), Marico (up 1.69%), Godrej Consumer Products (up 1.25%), Tata Global Beverages (up 1.06%), Jyothy Laboratories (up 0.09%) and Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care (up 0.04%), edged higher.
Bajaj Corp (down 3.1%), Dabur India (down 1.48%), Colgate-Palmolive (India) (down 1.3%), GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (down 0.55%), Britannia Industries (down 0.48%) and Nestle India (down 0.1%) edged lower.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar on optimism demand for local assets will increase as plunging oil prices improve India's economic outlook. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 61.6075, compared with its close of 61.70 during the previous trading session.
Brent crude futures edged higher amid signs that prices are receiving support around current levels. Brent for March settlement was up 66 cents at $48.65 a barrel. The contract declined 85 cents, or 1.74%, to settle at $47.99 a barrel during the previous trading session.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley yesterday, 20 January 2015, said that the success of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is a game changer for the economy as it has provided the platform for direct benefits transfer (DBT) which, in turn, will help in plugging leakages in subsidies and thereby provide savings to the exchequer. As against the original target of opening bank accounts for 7.5 crore uncovered households in the country by 26 January 2015, banks have already opened 11.50 crore accounts as on date 17 January 2015 under PMJDY after conducting survey of 21.02 crore households in the country. Jaitley further said that so far 19 schemes out of 35 DBT schemes have been rolled-out across the country, including MGNREGS in 300 districts. The Finance Minister said that the state governments have also been requested to transfer cash/benefits directly in the bank accounts of beneficiaries thereby cutting layers in the delivery process.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry today, 21 January 2015, said that Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai while meeting an Indian delegation to Vietnam led by Rajeev Kher, Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, has expressed his pleasure at the blossoming of trade and economic relations and his confidence that India and Vietnam would be able to achieve the target of bilateral trade of $15 billion by 2020. He noted that there is great potential for trade and investment cooperation in textiles, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, leather, energy and oil and gas, and invited Indian companies to invest in Vietnam.
European shares edged lower today, 21 January 2015, after comments from a member of the European Central Bank's (ECB) governing council tempered expectations of monetary policy stimulus from the ECB. Key benchmark indices in France and Germany were off 0.19% each. In UK, the FTSE 100 index was up 0.70%.
Ewald Nowotny, a member of European Central Bank's governing council, today, 21 January 2015, said that policy makers and central bankers should retain a longer-term perspective and not get overexcited about the meeting of the European Central Bank's governing council tomorrow, 22 January 2015, according to reports. Nowotny declined to comment on what will be decided at the ECB meeting but said that central bankers and policy makers should retain a longer-term perspective and have a bit of a relaxed attitude to news and not to get too excited about the events of one day. In his speech, Nowotny repeated comments that while expectations are for low inflation, he doesn't expect deflation. He added that it is easier for central banks to fight inflation than deflation and that conventional interest-rate policy used by central banks has reached its lower bound of its efficacy.
The governing council of the European Central Bank (ECB) is scheduled to undertake monetary policy review tomorrow, 22 January 2015. The ECB may announce a large-scale bond-buying program tomorrow, 22 January 2015, aimed at spurring Europe's ailing economy.
In UK, the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously at its January meeting to keep rates on hold, according to minutes released today, 21 January 2015. The minutes from the meeting on 7 and 8 January 2015 showed that all nine members were in favor of leaving the key interest rate at a record low of 0.5%, where it has stood since March 2009. All members voted in favor of keeping the 375 billion-pound ($585 billion) asset-purchase program unchanged.
Meanwhile, uncertainties over the status of Greece including its possible exit from the eurozone are likely to persist until the early election in the country on 25 January 2015. Greece is set to hold snap elections on 25 January 2015 after it failed to elect a new president in a third round of voting late last year. The Greek leftist opposition party Syriza leads opinion polls ahead of national elections on 25 January 2015. Syriza has demanded debt relief from the eurozone and promised to roll back the austerity and reform measures that the country has undertaken in exchange for the international bailout that the government negotiated in 2012.
Chinese shares led gains in Asian stocks today, 21 January 2015. Key benchmark indices in Indonesia, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan were up 0.15% to 1.68%. Japan's Nikkei Average fell 0.49%.
Mainland China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index shot up 4.7%, marking its biggest daily percentage increase since October 2009, extending gains after 1.8% advance yesterday, 20 January 2015. The advance in mainland Chinese markets also boosted Hong Kong stocks, with the Hang Seng Index closing up 1.7%. China yesterday, 20 January 2015, reported a higher-than-expected economic growth for December.
In Japan, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) today, 21 January 2015, cut its near-term inflation outlook and left its key easing policy unchanged, citing brighter economic growth that could eventually help put prices back on a firm upward path. The BoJ sharply raised its view on growth adjusted for inflation, expecting gross domestic product to rise 2.1% in fiscal 2015 and 1.6% the following year. But it cut its forecast for the year ending in March to a 0.5% contraction from the previous 0.5% expansion.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could fall 35 points at the opening bell today, 21 January 2015. US stocks eked out small gains after high intraday volatility yesterday, 20 January 2015. In economic news, a gauge of confidence among home builders ticked down this month by one point to 57, staying close to the highest level since late 2005, according to National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo data. Readings above 50 signal that builders, generally, are optimistic about sales trends.
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