Cement stocks and index heavyweights ITC, HDFC and Infosys led decline for key benchmark indices on the first trading session of the week. The S&P BSE Sensex settled at its lowest level in more than a week. The CNX Nifty settled at its lowest level in about a week. The Sensex and the Nifty lost more than 1% each. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was negative. The Sensex fell 313.62 points or 1.12% at 27,643.88.
Key benchmark indices in India edged lower today, 25 May 2015, after comments from Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen on Friday, 22 May 2015, indicated that the US central bank is on track to raise interest rates this year. Higher US interest rates will reduce the attraction of riskier emerging-markets assets. In overseas markets, European stocks edged lower, weighed by more concerns about the state of Greece's finances.
Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC dropped after the company reported muted growth in Q4 net profit. Kotak Mahindra Bank declined after the government today, 25 May 2015, deferred the bank's proposal for increasing the aggregate foreign investment in the bank to 55%. IDFC dropped after the government today, 25 May 2015, rejected the proposal from Sharekhan and Human Value developers Pvt Ltd for the transfer of CCDs and CCPs of their companies held by IDFC to Baring Private Equity Asia IV Mauritius.
Foreign portfolio investors bought shares worth a net Rs 253.77 crore from the secondary equity market on Friday, 22 May 2015, as per data released by the depositories. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 237.62 crore on Friday, 22 May 2015, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.
Indian stocks may remain volatile this week as traders roll over positions in the futures & options (F&O) segment from the near month May 2015 series to June 2015 series. The near month May 2015 F&O contracts expire on Thursday, 28 May 2015.
In overseas markets, European stocks edged lower, weighed by more concerns about the state of Greece's finances. Chinese stocks rallied for a fifth straight day today, 25 May 2015, leading Asian markets mostly higher. US stocks ended modestly lower during the previous trading session on Friday, 22 May 2015, after Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen said she still expected the central bank to raise interest rates sometime this year.
The S&P BSE Sensex fell 313.62 points or 1.12% at 27,643.88, its lowest closing level since 15 May 2015. The index lost 343.18 points at the day's low of 27,614.32 in late trade. The index fell 54.21 points at the day's high of 27,903.29 in early trade.
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The CNX Nifty fell 88.70 points or 1.05% at 8,370.25, its lowest closing level since 19 May 2015. The index hit a low of 8,364.15 in intraday trade. The index hit a high of 8,441.95 in intraday trade.
The BSE Mid-Cap index fell 8.70 points or 0.08% at 10,611.11. The BSE Small-Cap index fell 24.28 points or 0.22% at 11,183.38. The decline in both these indices was lower than the Sensex's decline in percentage terms.
The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was negative. On BSE, 1,531 shares fell and 1,149 shares rose. A total of 114 shares were unchanged.
The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 1952 crore, lower than turnover of Rs 3023.93 crore registered during the previous trading session.
Among sectoral indices on BSE, the S&P BSE Oil & Gas index (up 0.13%), the S&P BSE Consumer Durables index (down 0.11%), the S&P BSE Power index (down 0.16%), the S&P BSE Auto index (down 0.28%), the S&P BSE Teck index (down 0.29%), the S&P BSE Realty index (down 0.45%), the S&P BSE Healthcare index (down 0.6%), the S&P BSE Bankex index (down 0.69%), the S&P BSE IT index (down 0.74%) and the S&P BSE Capital Goods index (down 0.86%), outperformed the Sensex. The S&P BSE FMCG index (down 1.62%) and the S&P BSE Metal index (down 1.7%), underperformed the Sensex.
Index heavyweight and housing finance major HDFC lost 2.70% at Rs 1,252.80. The stock hit a high of Rs 1,287.50 and a low of Rs 1,250 in intraday trade.
Another index heavyweight and software major Infosys shed 1.17% at Rs 2,018. The stock hit a high of Rs 2,056.90 and a low of Rs 2,007 in intraday trade.
Index heavyweight and oil and gas major Reliance Industries (RIL) fell 0.94% at Rs 894.20. The stock hit a high of Rs 907.60 and a low of Rs 892.20 in intraday trade.
Index heavyweight and construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) fell 1.32% at Rs 1,629.15. The stock hit a high of Rs 1,654 and a low of Rs 1,625 in intraday trade.
Cement stocks declined. Ambuja Cements (down 3.44%), UltraTech Cement (down 1.70%) and ACC (down 1.17%) edged lower. Shree Cement rose 1.06%.
Grasim Industries was off 1.91% at Rs 3572.60. Grasim Industries before market hours today, 25 May 2015, said that the company has signed a business transfer agreement with Future Consumer Enterprise for the sale of its consumer products division on a slump sale basis. The division is presently engaged in the manufacture of face care wipe, baby wipes and other products in baby/house care segments. This business unit registered net sales of Rs 9.52 crore for the year ended 31 March 2015 (FY 2015). The transaction is expected to be completed in June 2015, Grasim added.
Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC dropped after the company reported muted growth in Q4 net profit. The stock shed 3.29% at Rs 317.65. ITC's net profit rose 3.65% to Rs 2361.18 crore on 1.66% increase in total income to Rs 9663.15 crore in Q4 March 2015 over Q4 March 2014. The result was announced after trading hours on Friday, 22 May 2015.
ITC said that its performance in Q4 March 2015 was adversely impacted by steep increase in excise duty and VAT on cigarettes and weak demand environment. In a press release, ITC said that the muted growth in revenue and profits in Q4 March 2015 reflects, inter alia, the continuing impact of the steep hike in taxation on cigarettes, sluggish demand conditions in the FMCG industry, start-up costs of the juices category, lack of trading opportunities in agri-commodities and costs relating to rationalisation of safety matches manufacturing operations. Financials for the quarter include Rs 58 crore towards costs associated with rationalisation of safety matches manufacturing operations.
Excluding expenditure on Corporate Social Responsibility/Social Investment programmes, profit before tax for the quarter grew by 6.4% and net profit for the quarter grew by 7.8% on a comparable basis, ITC said.
ITC said that the legal cigarette industry in India continues to be impacted adversely by a punitive taxation and discriminatory regulatory regime. The operating environment for the legal cigarette industry in India was rendered even more challenging in 2014-15 with two rounds of sharp increase in excise duty -- in July 2014 and February 2015. This includes a cumulative increase of 115% on filter cigarettes of 'length not exceeding 65 mm', which has widened the price differential between legal and illegal cigarettes and made it extremely difficult for the legal cigarette industry to counter the unabated growth of illegal cigarettes in the country, ITC said. Notwithstanding the challenging regulatory and taxation environment, the company strengthened its product portfolio across segments to reinforce its leadership position in the industry during 2014-15, ITC said.
Bank stocks were mixed. Among PSU Banks, Canara Bank (down 3.71%), Corporation Bank (down 2.81%), Punjab and Sind Bank (down 1.72%), State Bank of India (down 1.68%), Vijaya Bank (down 1.51%), Bank of Maharashtra (down 1.16%), IDBI Bank (down 1.16%), United Bank of India (down 0.8%), Indian Bank (down 0.59%), Central Bank of India (down 0.55%), UCO Bank (down 0.25%), Andhra Bank (down 0.19%) and Union Bank of India (down 0.03%), edged lower. Allahabad Bank (up 0.20%), Dena Bank (up 0.42%), Bank of India (up 0.47%), Punjab National Bank (up 0.77%), Syndicate Bank (up 0.83%) and Bank of Baroda (up 1.51%), edged higher.
Among private sector banks, Yes Bank (down 1.54%), Axis Bank (down 1.34%), ICICI Bank (down 0.4%) and HDFC Bank (down 0.21%), edged lower. IndusInd Bank (up 0.19%), Federal Bank (up 0.39%) and City Union Bank (up 3.11%), edged higher.
Kotak Mahindra Bank declined after the government today, 25 May 2015, deferred the bank's proposal for increasing the aggregate foreign investment in the bank to 55%. The stock shed 1.08% at Rs 1372.25.
IDFC dropped after the government today, 25 May 2015, rejected the proposal from Sharekhan and Human Value developers Pvt Ltd for the transfer of CCDs and CCPs of their companies held by IDFC to Baring Private Equity Asia IV Mauritius. The stock shed 0.61% at Rs 153.75. The stock hit a high of Rs 155.60 and a low of Rs 153.50 in intraday trade.
The Sensex has risen 632.57 points or 2.34% in this month so far (till 25 May 2015). The Sensex has gained 144.46 points or 0.53% in this calendar year so far (till 25 May 2015). From a 52-week low of 24,163.62 on 30 May 2014, the Sensex has risen 3,480.26 points or 14.40%. The Sensex is off 2,380.86 points or 7.93% from a record high of 30,024.74 hit on 4 March 2015.
In overseas markets, European stocks edged lower, weighed by more concerns about the state of Greece's finances. France's CAC 40 index was off 0.71%. Stock markets in UK and Germany were closed for holidays.
Over the weekend Greece raised doubts that it would have the money it is due to repay to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next month. This news comes despite months of negotiations between Greece's leftist-led government and creditorsthe European Union and the IMF. Greece is scheduled to repay euro 1.6 billion ($1.76 billion) to the IMF between June 5-19.
Stocks in Spain edged lower after regional and municipal elections held yesterday, 24 May 2015, showed voters punishing the governing Popular Party by giving weighty support to two upstart parties. The IBEX-35 was off 2.18%.
Chinese stocks rallied for a fifth straight day today, 25 May 2015, leading Asian markets mostly higher. Key indices in Japan, Singapore and Taiwan were up 0.07% to 0.74%. In Indonesia, Jakarta Composite index was off 0.5%. Korean and Hong Kong markets were closed for the Buddha's Birthday holiday.
In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite index was up 3.35%. China's Ministry of Finance today, 25 May 2015, announced that it would cut import duties on cosmetics, shoes and clothes by 50% on average, as part of a plan to boost domestic consumption and sustain economic growth.
US stocks ended modestly lower during the previous trading session on Friday, 22 May 2015, after Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen said she still expected the central bank to raise interest rates sometime this year. Yellen said in a speech delivered in Providence, R.I., discussing the US economic outlook on Friday, 22 May 2015, that the central bank is on track to raise interest rates this year but will likely proceed cautiously because the job market hasn't fully healed, inflation is low and growth has again disappointed.
The US stock market remains closed today, 25 May 2015, for the Memorial Day Holiday.
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