Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could gain 21 points at the opening bell.
In overseas markets, Asian stocks were trading on a mixed note. US stocks closed higher during the previous trading session on Friday, 18 March 2016, extending the rally that followed the Federal Reserve's accommodative policy decision during the week.
Closer home, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1712.62 crore during the previous trading session on Friday, 18 March 2016, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 403.37 crore on Friday, 18 March 2016, as per provisional data.
Bank stocks will be in focus after the government cut interest rates on various small savings schemes for Q1 June 2016 based on the prevailing G-Sec (government securities) yields. The interest rate on Public Provident Fund (PPF) was slashed to 8.1% from 8.7%. The interest rate on Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme was slashed to 8.6% from 9.2%. The interest rate on 5 Year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme was cut to 8.6% from 9.3%. The government had recently announced that it would revise interest rates on small saving schemes on quarterly basis against the earlier practice of annual revision. The quarterly revision of interest rates will ensure that interest rates under small savings schemes are more dynamically related to the current market rates, thereby enabling commercial banks to move their interest rates in line with current money market rates, the finance ministry said in a statement. The additional interest rate spreads ranging from 25 basis points to 100 basis points over the G-Sec yields which the Government allows on PPF, Senior Citizen Savings Scheme, Sukanya Samridhi Scheme, National Savings Certificate, five year time deposit and Monthly Income Scheme have been continued.
Shares of Hero MotoCorp turn ex-dividend today, 21 March 2016, for an interim dividend of Rs 40 per share for the year ending 31 March 2016. Before turning ex-dividend, the stock offered a dividend yield of 1.41% based on the closing price of Rs 2,832.90 on BSE on Friday, 18 March 2016.
Bank of Baroda (BoB) said on Saturday, 19 March 2016 that credit rating agency Brickwork Ratings India revised rating outlook on the bank's upper Tier II bonds of Rs 1000 crore issued in two tranches of Rs 500 crore each to BWR AAA with negative outlook from earlier rating of BWR AAA with stable outlook.
Aurobindo Pharma announced that it has received final approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to manufacture and market Naproxen Sodium Tablets USP, 220 mg (OTC). Aurobindo Pharma said it expects to launch this product in Q1 June 2016. The approved abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) is bioequivalent and therapeutically equivalent to the reference listed drug product (RLD) Aleve Tablets, of Bayer Healthcare LLC (Bayer). Naproxen Sodium Tablets is used in the treatment and prevention of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. According to IMS data, the approved product has an estimated market size of $96 million in the United States for the twelve months ended January 2016. The announcement was made on Saturday, 19 March 2016.
Stocks of metal and mining firms, IT companies and index heavyweights HDFC and Reliance Industries (RIL) led the rally for key benchmark indices on Friday, 18 March 2016. The Sensex rose 275.37 points or 1.12% to settle at 24,952.74, its highest closing level since 6 January 2016.
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