Range bound trading continued, with the two key key benchmark indices hovering near flat line in early afternoon trade. At 12:16 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 3.51 points or 0.01% at 28,126.95. The Nifty 50 index was currently up 8.10 points or 0.09% at 8,681.35. The Sensex rose 88.86 points, or 0.32% at the day's high of 28,212.30 at the onset of trading session. The index fell 33.89 points, or 0.12% at the day's low of 28,089.55 in early afternoon trade. The Nifty rose 23.35 points, or 0.27% at the day's high of 8,696.60 at the onset of trading session, its highest level since 9 August 2016. The index fell 9.90 points, or 0.11% at the day's low of 8,663.35 in early trade.
The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was strong. On BSE, 1,479 shares rose and 912 shares fell. A total of 167 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index and the BSE Small-Cap index were currently up 0.66% each. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
In overseas stock markets, Asian stocks witnessed a mixed trend after some Federal Reserve officials reiterated the case for raising US interest rates in coming months. US stocks eked out gains yesterday, 18 August 2016, following upbeat earnings and forecast from Wal-Mart and as higher oil lifted energy shares.
Tata Power Company was up 1.24% at Rs 77.85 after the company announced during trading hours today, 19 August 2016, that its South African joint venture company, Cennergi, commenced commercial operations of its 95 megawatts (MW) Tsitsikamma Community Wind farm (TCWF) project yesterday, 18 August 2016. With the commissioning of the Tsitsikamma project, Cennergi's operational portfolio has increased to 229 MW. Cennergi is an equal joint venture between Tata Power and Exxaro Resources.
PSU banks were in demand. IDBI Bank (up 3.63%), Punjab & Sind Bank (up 3.18%), Bank of Baroda (up 2.98%), Allahabad Bank (up 2.42%), Syndicate Bank (up 2.31%), Andhra Bank (up 1.89%), Vijaya Bank (up 1.81%), Union Bank of India (up 1.57%), UCO Bank (up 1.46%), Punjab National Bank (up 1.30%), United Bank of India (up 1.15%), Corporation Bank (up 1.09%), Central Bank of India (up 1.04%), Bank of Maharashtra (up 0.96%), Bank of India (up 0.93%), Canara Bank (up 0.83%) and Dena Bank (up 0.13%), edged higher. Indian Bank was down 0.66%.
State Bank of India (SBI) edged higher after the state-run bank after trading hours yesterday, 18 August 2016, announced the merger of 5 associate banks viz. State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ), State Bank of Mysore (SBM), State Bank of Travancore (SBT), State Bank of Hyderabad and State Bank of Patiala with itself. The stock was up 3.26%. State Bank of Travancore was up 6.63% and State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur was up 1.89%. State Bank of Mysore was down 10.41%. As per the swap ratio for the merger, 28 equity shares of SBI will be issued for every 10 shares held in SBBJ. For both SBM and SBT, the swap ratio for merger is 22 shares of SBI for every 10 shares held in SBM and SBT.
State Bank of Hyderabad and State Bank of Patiala are both not listed on the bourses. SBI also announced the merger of unlisted Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMBL) with itself. SBI had announced in May 2016 that it was considering the merger of 5 associate banks and BMBL with itself.
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Stocks of private sector banks witnessed a mixed trend. Federal Bank (up 1.16%), Yes Bank (up 0.87%), City Union Bank (up 0.86%), ICICI Bank (up 0.79%) and IndusInd Bank (up 0.36%), edged hgiher. Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 0.22%), HDFC Bank (down 0.4%) and Axis Bank (down 0.67%), edged lower.
Capital goods shares were mixed. Reliance Defence and Engineering (up 2.07%), Punj Lloyd (up 1.67%), Jindal Saw (up 1.62%), Siemens (up 1.40%), ALSTOM India (up 1.25%), Bharat Heavy Electricals (up 1.25%), Havells India (up 1.25%), SKF India (up 0.96%), Praj Industries (up 0.79%), Larsen & Toubro (up 0.56%), Bharat Electronics (up 0.14%) and ABB India (up 0.01%), edged higher. BEML (down 0.2%), Lakshmi Machine Works (down 0.33%), Crompton Greaves (down 0.34%), GE T&D India (down 0.61%), Thermax (down 1.24%), Suzlon Energy (down 1.5%) and AIA Engineering (down 3.73%), edged lower.
IT stocks were mixed. Tech Mahindra (up 0.94%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 0.38%), Hexaware Technologies (up 0.32%), MphasiS (up 0.29%), MindTree (up 0.19%), Infosys (up 0.07%), edged higher. HCL Technologies (down 0.01%) and Persistent Systems (down 1.45%), edged lower.
Wipro was up 0.28% after the company said it made a strategic investment to acquire a minority stake of less than 20% in Intsights Cyber Intelligence for $1.5 million in cash. Intsights offers threat intelligence driven security platform. The transaction is expected to be completed on or before 31 August 2016. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 18 August 2016.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was down 0.93%. The company after market hours yesterday, 18 August 2016, announced that it was extending its contract with US airline JetBlue and will expand its innovation centre in Pune to support the airline's digital initiatives.
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