Volatility ruled the roost in mid-afternoon trade as the key benchmark indices once again sink in negative zone after a brief intraday recovery pulled key indices in positive zone. At 14:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 64.12 points or 0.27% at 23,997.92. The 50-unit Nifty 50 index was currently down 22.10 points or 0.3% at 7,287.20. The Sensex was hovering a tad below the psychological 24,000 mark after gyrating above and below that mark in intraday trade.
The Sensex fell 200.04 points or 0.83% at the day's low of 23,862 in afternoon trade. The barometer index jumped 289.79 points or 1.2% at the day's high of 24,351.83 at the onset of the trading session, its highest level since 19 January 2016. The Nifty fell 59.30 points or 0.81% at the day's low of 7,250 in afternoon trade. The index rose 89.40 points or 1.22% at the day's high of 7,398.70 at the onset of the trading session.
The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market turned positive from negative in mid-afternoon trade. On BSE, 1365 shares gained and 1,126 shares declined. A total of 167 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently off 0.03%. The fall in this index was lower than Sensex's decline in percentage terms. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently up 0.61%, outperforming the Sensex.
In overseas stock markets, European stocks rose as investors looked to the European Central Bank's (ECB) monthly policy meeting, hoping for some reassurance from President Mario Draghi as global markets remain extremely volatile. Modest early gains in Asian markets were wiped out as bearish sentiment took hold in late afternoon trading as interest rates in Hong Kong climbed and Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the bank wasn't considering using negative interest rate policy to help the country's economy. In mainland China, Shanghai Composite ended 3.23% lower after extending losses towards the close of the trading session. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell 1.82%. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Average ended 2.43% lower. US stocks ended a wild session sharply lower yesterday, 20 January 2016, but trimmed heavier losses scored earlier in the session as a modest bounce off session lows by crude-oil prices provided some relief.
FMCG stocks slipped. Dabur India (down 3.21%), Godrej Consumer Products (down 2.92%), Hindustan Unilever (down 1.69%), Marico (down 1.44%), Britannia Industries (down 1.06%), Tata Global Beverages (down 0.05%), Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care (down 0.03%), Jyothy Laboratories (down 1.95%), Bajaj Corp (down 0.5%) and Colgate-Palmolive (India) (down 0.35%) declined.
GlaxoSmithkline Consumer Healthcare (up 0.83%) and Nestle India (up 0.25%) rose.
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Power generation stocks rose after the Union Cabinet yesterday, 20 January 2016, approved the proposal of the Ministry of Power for amendments in the Tariff Policy to ensure 24X7 affordable power for all.
NHPC (up 1.86%), Jaiprakash Power Ventures (up 2.32%), Adani Power (up 0.76%), JSW Energy (up 4.74%), NTPC (up 1.36%), Torrent Power (up 5.8%), Reliance Power (up 0.72%) gained.
Reliance Infrastructure rose 0.58% after consolidated net profit rose 2.27% to Rs 462.67 crore on 8.2% decline in total income to Rs 4395.36 crore in Q3 December 2015 over Q3 December 2014. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 20 January 2016.
Tata Power Company (down 0.81%) and CESC (down 0.65%) edged lower.
The amendments will ensure availability of electricity to consumers at reasonable and competitive rates, improve ease of doing business to ensure financial viability of the sector and attract investments, promote transparency, consistency and predictability in regulatory approaches across jurisdictions, according to a government statement. It will further facilitate competition, efficiency in operations and improvement in quality of supply of electricity.
Separately, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval for setting up of over 5,000 megawatts (MW) of Grid-Connected Solar PV power projects on build, own and operate basis. A capacity creation of 1,250 MW each is expected during four financial years from 2015-16 to 2018-19. The work will be implemented by Solar Power Developers (SPDs) with Viability Gap Funding (VGF) under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). The estimated requirement of funds to provide VGF for 5,000 MW capacity solar projects is pegged at Rs 5050 crore. The upper limit for VGF will be Rs 1 crore per MW.
State-run coal-mining giant Coal India was off 1.73% at Rs 292.80. The stock hit a high of Rs 302 and a low of Rs 292.80 so far during the day.
Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan has reportedly said that investors will look at stable emerging markets (EM), including India once the volatility in global markets subsides. On the RBI's monetary policy stance next month, Rajan reportedly said that the rest of the world is facing a deflationary environment and that will help India disinflate. The RBI's next monetary policy review is scheduled on 2 February 2016. On the sharp drop in the Indian rupee, Rajan was quoted as saying that the Indian currency has been relatively strong when compared to other EM currencies.
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