Key benchmark indices were trading lower in early trade. At 9:22 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 24.83 points or 0.10% at 24,592.14. The 50-unit Nifty 50 index was down 4.20 points or 0.06% at 7,484.90.
The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was strong. On BSE, 725 shares rose and 382 shares fell. A total of 51 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently up 0.38%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently up 0.37%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
In the overseas market, Japan's Nikkei 225 index retraced some early losses today, 8 February 2016, as most major Asian markets remain closed for the Lunar New Year holidays. Markets in mainland China and Taiwan are closed all week. Other markets closed today include Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Singapore. Meanwhile, a rout in tech stockshighlighted by LinkedIn Corp.'s massive drop after the business-oriented social network delivered a poor outlookdrove US equities to their largest weekly drop in a month on Friday, 5 February 2016. Adding to negative sentiment was a jobs report that showed weaker-than-forecast growth in January. The US generated 151,000 nonfarm jobs in the first month of 2016, the Labor Department said. The unemployment rate fell a tick to 4.9% the lowest reading in eight years.
Wipro was down 0.43%. The company announced before trading hours today, 8 February 2016, that it has won an IT infrastructure transformation contract from the ASSA ABLOY Group, headquartered in Sweden. ASSA ABLOY is the global leader in door opening solutions. As part of the five-year agreement, Wipro will consolidate ASSA ABLOY's existing data centers in the EMEA region and implement a cloud-based service model, which will include IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) and PaaS (Platform as a Service). The deployment will leverage Wipro's BoundaryLess Data Center offering and will provide a full suite of IT infrastructure management services to ASSA ABLOY's global organisation. This solution will bring in a high level of agility, and a consumption-based IT service model powered by an user-friendly service catalog, Wipro said.
Tata Power Company was down 2.15%. The company's consolidated net profit fell 87.63% to Rs 24.46 crore on 2.98% rise in total income to Rs 9313.19 crore in Q3 December 2015 over Q3 December 2014. The result was announced after market hours on Friday, 5 February 2016.
Steel stocks extended gains registered during the previous trading session after the government set floor price or Minimum Import Price (MIP) on import of a total of 173 steel products into the country in a bid to restrict cheap steel imports which has adversely affected the domestic steel industry. Bhushan Steel (up 10.16%), Steel Authority of India (up 4.65%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 3.07%), JSW Steel (up 2.69%) and Tata Steel (up 2.37%), edged higher. As per a notification issued by Directorate General of Foreign Trade on Friday, 5 February 2016, the government has imposed MIP ranging from $341 per tonne to $752 per tonne on various steel products. The MIP will be in place for a period of 6 months.
Dr Reddy's Laboratories was flat at Rs 3,109.60. The company announced before trading hours today, 8 February 2016, that its US subsidiary, Promius Pharma, LLC, U.S., has received approval for Sernivo (betamethasone dipropionate) Spray, 0.05% from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Semivo Spray, a prescription topical steroid, is indicated for the treatment of mild to moderate plaque psonasis in patients 18 years of age or older. The commercial launch of the product is planned for the coming quarter, the company said.
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