A sudden slide pushed key benchmark indices lower in early afternoon trade. Just before the sudden slide in early afternoon trade, key benchmark indices had moved in a narrow range. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was currently off 105.32 points or 0.38% at 27,353.06. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was positive.
FMCG stocks edged higher, with Hindustan Unilever (HUL) hitting record high. Index heavyweight and cigarette maker ITC edged higher. Capital goods stocks also gained.
Earlier, key indices staged sharp recovery in morning trade after slipping into the red after a firm opening.
In overseas markets, Asian stocks edged lower amid concern Europe's stimulus plans may not solve the euro region's economic woes and after an unexpected drop in American wages clouded the outlook for US interest rates. US stocks fell on Friday, 9 January 2015, after December's jobs report revealed a drop in wages.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar as a drop in US wages spurred speculation the US Federal Reserve will delay an increase in interest rates.
Brent crude oil futures extended losses from the lowest level in more than 5-1/2 years. Deregulation of diesel price announced by the Indian government in October 2014 and a sharp decline in global crude oil prices over the past few months will help reduce the government's fuel subsidy burden and help contain its fiscal deficit. The steep slide in global crude oil prices will also help India in containing its current account deficit and fuel price inflation. India imports 80% of its crude oil requirement.
Foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth a net Rs 297.99 crore during the previous trading session on Friday, 9 January 2015, as per provisional data.
Also Read
At 12:18 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 105.32 points or 0.38% at 27,353.06. The index declined 125.30 points at the day's low of 27,333.08 in early trade. The index rose 81.17 points at the day's high of 27,539.55 in early trade, its highest level since 6 January 2015.
The CNX Nifty was down 15 points or 0.18% at 8,269.50. The index hit a low of 8,245.60 in intraday trade. The index hit a high of 8,297.65 in intraday trade.
The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 43.61 points or 0.42% at 10,469.62. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 67.85 points or 0.61% at 11,266.19. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was positive. On BSE, 1,483 shares advanced and 1,061 shares declined. A total of 115 shares were unchanged.
ONGC declined 1.6%. With reference to the news captioned "ONGC at a loss, US firm walks out of Russian project", ONGC said during market hours that ONGC Videsh, a wholly owned subsidiary of ONGC has refuted the statement "ONGC Videsh at a loss" and denied the same. ONGC said that Imperial Energy is having reserves in tight sand formations. To improve production, Imperial Energy engaged Liberty Resources in September 2013 for technology consultation to exploit the oil reserves of tight sands in one field and also Bazhenov shale oil. The expert team of Liberty Resources worked along with Imperial team and carried out detailed evaluation studies and firmed up drilling of 4 pilot wells; 2 each for tight sand and Bazhenov shale. At present, Liberty Resources continues to support on the development of tight sand, ONGC said. However, Liberty Resources has expressed its inability to support for Bazhenov shale activities due to US sanction. ONGC Videsh has continued with the pilot project of Bazhenov shale with its in-house expertise.
Production enhancement initiatives are ongoing routine activities in E&P companies, ONGC said.
FMCG stocks gained. Colgate Palmolive (India) (up 0.59%), Dabur India (up 0.76%), Godrej Consumer Products (up 1.89%), Nestle India (up 1.13%), and Tata Global Beverages (up 1.42%) gained.
Hindustan Unilever (HUL) gained 2.98% to Rs 889.25, after hitting record high of Rs 897.40 in intraday trade.
Index heavyweight and cigarette maker ITC rose 0.29% to Rs 357.75. The stock hit high of Rs 361.50 and low of Rs 356.25 so far during the day.
Coal India dropped 4.28% on report the government is planning to sell a 10% stake in the state-run coal miner. Last week, finance minister Arun Jaitley had reportedly said that the last quarter of the current fiscal year ending 31 March 2015 (FY 2015) will see a big disinvestment push. The government has already finalised selling its 10% stake in Coal India during the current fiscal year.
According to the media report, the Coal India stock sale plan had been held up because of lack of policy clarity on mine auctions, following the cancellation of blocks by the Supreme Court in September, and opposition by unions. Both issues policy clarity on mine auctions and opposition by unions have been resolved: the first through an ordinance and the second through negotiations. A five-day strike called by 5.5 lakh Coal India workers last week was called off in two days after Coal, Power and Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal met unions to explain the government's position and addressed their concerns, report added.
Capital goods stocks edged higher. ABB India (up 0.09%), Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) (up 0.98%), Crompton Greaves (up 0.68%), L&T (up 0.51%), Punj Lloyd (up 4.25%), Thermax (up 1.03%) and Siemens (up 1.77%) gained.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar as a drop in US wages spurred speculation the US Federal Reserve will delay an increase in interest rates. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 62.165, compared with its close of 62.32 during the previous trading session.
Brent crude oil futures extended losses from the lowest level in more than 5-1/2 years. Brent for February settlement was off 69 cents to $49.42 a barrel. The contract had lost 85 cents to settle at $50.11 a barrel during the previous trading session on Friday, 9 January 2015, the lowest closing since April 2009. Brent for March settlement was off 81 cents at 50.49 a barrel.
India is expected to implement a common goods and services tax (GST) across the country in the course of next year, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reportedly said today, 12 January 2015. Jaitley presented the GST bill to parliament in December, which needs the support of two-thirds of its members as well as ratification by state legislatures.
Meanwhile, Finance ministry's chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian reportedly said today, 12 January 2015, India's growth slowdown has bottomed out and the pace of economic expansion is expected to accelerate.
On the macro front, data to be released today, 12 January 2015, is expected to show industrial production growth remaining muted in November 2014 and consumer price inflation accelerating in December 2014. Industrial production is seen rising 1.6% in November 2014, as per the median estimate of a poll of economists carried out by Capital Market. The government will unveil industrial production data for November 2014 after trading hours today, 12 January 2015. Industrial production had witnessed a surprise contraction of 4.2% in October 2014.
The rate of inflation based on the consumer price index (CPI) is seen accelerating to 5.4% in December 2014 from 4.4% in November 2014, as per the median estimate of a poll of economists carried out by Capital Market. The government will release the data on CPI inflation for December 2014 after trading hours today, 12 January 2015.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) aims to limit consumer-price gains to 8% by January 2015 and 6% by January 2016. Over the longer term, the RBI aims to limit consumer-price gains to 4%, within a 2% band.
The rate of inflation based the wholesale price index (WPI) is projected at 0.5% for December 2014, as per the median estimate of a poll of economist carried out by Capital Market. WPI inflation stood at zero in November 2014. The government will release data on WPI for December 2014 at 12 noon on Wednesday, 14 January 2015.
The seventh annual Vibrant Gujarat Summit, a global investor conference was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, 11 January 2015. The Summit ends tomorrow, 13 January 2015.
Most Asian stocks edged lower amid concern Europe's stimulus plans may not solve the euro region's economic woes and after an unexpected drop in American wages clouded the outlook for US interest rates. Key indices in South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, China and Taiwan were off 0.08% to 1.28%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.25%. Japanese stock market remained close for a holiday.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could fall 10 points at the opening bell today, 12 January 2015. US stocks fell on Friday, 9 January 2015, following a two-day rally as December's jobs report gave a mixed view of the economy, with financial shares leading the way lower.
US job growth increased briskly in December, but wages posted their biggest decline in at least eight years in a sign the tightening labor market has yet to give much of a boost to workers. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 252,000 last month after an upwardly revised jump of 353,000 in November, the Labor Department said. The jobless rate fell 0.2 percentage point to a 6-1/2-year low of 5.6%, but that was mainly because people left the labor force.
The drop in labor participation and a surprise five-cent, or 0.2 percent, decrease in average hourly earnings, which nearly erased November's gains, took some shine off the otherwise upbeat report.
Meanwhile in Europe, the uncertainties over the status of Greece including its possible exit from the eurozone are likely to persist until the early election in the country later this month. 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.
Powered by Capital Market - Live News