Key benchmark indices edged in early trade tracking positive sentiment on Asian bourses. At 9:19 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 83.54 points or 0.28% at 30,001.94. The Nifty 50 index was up 24.80 points or 0.27% at 9,328.85.
The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.3%. The BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.53%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
Overseas, Asian stocks edged higher amid resumption of trading at major stock exchanges after being shut for a public holiday on Monday, 1 May 2017. US stocks closed slightly higher on Monday, 1 May 2017, shaking off comments from President Donald Trump about breaking up the big banks.
Closer home, the breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1,052 shares rose and 369 shares declined. A total of 64 shares were unchanged.
Among corporate news, Ambuja Cements was down 2.28% at Rs 240.35. The company's consolidated net profit rose 38% to Rs 396.96 crore on 6.8% growth in net sales to Rs 5631.90 crore in Q1 March 2017 over Q1 March 2016. The result was announced after market hours on Friday, 28 April 2017.
ONGC rose 1.29% after the company said its new oil and gas discoveries grew by 35% to 23 new discoveries in FY 2017 over FY 2016. ONGC said that FY 2017 has been one of the most successful years of the last decade in exploring oil and gas with more thrust in increased exploration activities during the year. The announcement was made on Monday, 1 May 2017.
GAIL (India) was up 0.12%. The company has awarded contracts for pipeline laying works of Kochi-Koottanad-Mangaluru pipeline for another 131 kilometre section at a cost of approximately Rs 200 crore. The balance 111 kilometres stretch will be awarded by July 2017. GAIL (India) is targeting to complete the entire project by December 2018. The announcement was made on Monday, 1 May 2017, when the domestic stock markets were closed for a local holiday.
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Dr Reddy's Laboratories (DRL) was down 0.52%. The company said that the audit of its formulations manufacturing plant - 3 at Bachupally, Hyderabad by the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), was completed on 28 April 2017. DRL has been issued a Form 483 with 11 observations.
These observations are mostly procedural in nature, reflecting the need to improve people capabilities and strengthen documentation and laboratory systems. DRL said it will address them comprehensively within the stipulated time. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 28 April 2017.
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) fell 0.27%. Ratings agency CARE reaffirmed its ratings on the company's long term bank facilities amounting to Rs 184 crore with CARE AAA with a stable outlook. It also reaffirmed its ratings on the company's short term bank facilities amounting to Rs 66 crore with CARE A1+. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 28 April 2017.
Tata Motors declined 0.9% after the company's total passenger and commercial vehicle sales declined 21% to 30,972 units in April 2017 over April 2016. The company's commercial vehicle sales were affected by the Supreme Court judgement announced on 29 March 2017, with the ban on BS3 sales, leading to the need for a higher quantity of BS4 stock for April sales.
Tata Motors' commercial vehicles sales in the domestic market slumped 36% to 16,017 units in April 2017 over April 2016, an unusual decline, in exceptional circumstances. Tata Motors expects production, wholesales and retails to pick up in May and June. The announcement was made on Monday, 1 May 2017.
Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) advanced 2.11% after the company's total sales rose 19.5% to 1.51 lakh units in April 2017 over April 2016. Domestic sales grew by 23.4% to 1.44 lakh units in April 2017 over April 2016. Exports declined 29.4% to 6,723 units in April 2017 over April 2016. The announcement was made on Monday, 1 May 2017.
Hero MotoCorp (HMCL) was up 0.68%. The company's total two-wheeler sales declined 3.5% to 5.91 lakh units in April 2017 over April 2016. The two-wheeler industry witnessed heavy retail off-take towards the end of March 2017 in view of the transition from BS III to BS IV vehicles. With the ongoing marriage season, the company expects to maintain the trend of robust retail sales in May.
HMCL raised the prices - ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 2,200 - across different models to partially offset the commodity cost increases, effective from 1 May 2017. The announcement was made on Monday, 1 May 2017.
Eicher Motors rose 2.15%. The company on 1 May 2017 said that total sales of VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV) declined 42.4% to 3,089 units in April 2017 over April 2016. VE Commercial Vehicles is an unlisted subsidiary of Eicher Motors.
Separately, Eicher Motors on 1 May 2017 said its total motorcycles sales grew by 25% to 60,142 units in April 2017 over April 2016. Exports surged 36% to 1,578 units in April 2017 over April 2016.
Shares of public sector oil marketing companies (PSU OMCs) edged higher after announcing a hike in petrol and diesel prices. BPCL (up 0.98%), HPCL (up 0.98%) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) (up 0.83%) advanced.
IOCL on 30 April 2017 announced an increase in the price of petrol and diesel with effect from the midnight of 30 April/1 May 2017. Petrol price was hiked by Rs 0.01 per litre and diesel price was raised by Rs 0.44 a litre at Delhi (excluding state levies).
In addition to this, daily revision of prices of petrol and diesel is being implemented on pilot basis, in the cities of Chandigarh, Jamshedpur, Puducherry District, Udaipur and Vizag with effect from 1 May 2017.
The Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on Monday, 1 May 2017, reviewed international prices of crude oil and petroleum products for the month of April 2017. In the case of PDS Kerosene, the under-recoveries with effect from 1 May 2017 will be Rs 10.68 per litre.
On the macro front, the combined index of eight core industries comprising nearly 38% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) stood at 202.9 in March 2017, which was 5% higher compared to the index of March 2016. The data was released by the government yesterday, 1 May 2017.
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