Key benchmark indices edged higher in early trade as most Asian markets were firm. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, and the 50-unit CNX Nifty, both, hit fresh lifetime high in opening trade. The Sensex was currently up 62.02 points or 0.22% at 28,846.69 . The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was strong.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,275.59 crore yesterday, 20 January 2015, as per provisional data.
Among global markets, Asian stocks were mostly higher. The Bank of Japan (BoJ) kept monetary policy steady today, 21 January 2015. US stocks ended flat on yesterday, 20 January 2015, after the International Monetary Fund reduced its growth forecasts for 2015 and 2016, increasing speculation central banks would take more aggressive policy moves to spark economic improvement.
At 9:25 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 62.02 points or 0.22% at 28,846.69. The index rose 96.13 points at the day's high of 28,880.80 in opening trade, a lifetime high for the index. The index rose 45.37 points at the day's low of 28,830.04 in opening trade.
The CNX Nifty was up 13 points or 0.15% at 8,708.60. The index hit a high of 8,722.50 in intraday trade, a lifetime high for the index. The index hit a low of 8,697.60 in intraday trade.
The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 32.70 points or 0.30% at 10,760.51. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 59.27 points or 0.52% at 11,505.54. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was strong. On BSE, 826 shares advanced and 296 shares declined. A total of 41 shares were unchanged.
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TCS rose 0.70%. The company announced after market hours yesterday, 20 January 2015, that it has been selected by Virgin Atlantic Airways (VAA), one of the UK's leading airlines, to provide fully managed services to transform and optimize its IT processes, applications and infrastructure. TCS will set up a private cloud for Virgin Atlantic and provide services including Infrastructure-as-a-service, end user Services and application support services across the whole of Virgin Atlantic's technology landscape.
The initiative is a part of Virgin Atlantic's strategy to invest in operational efficiencies and innovations to help it maintain its market leadership. The project will create a service that is easy and straight-forward to administer whilst providing VAA with a progressive, industry leading portfolio of IT services. Through this partnership, Virgin Atlantic will also gain access to TCS' Airline and Digital Innovation Labs, facilities designed to support the development of solutions that address the changing needs and expectations of the new digital consumer.
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) rose 0.77%. The company announced after market hours yesterday, 20 January 2015, Mahindra Two Wheelers (MTWL) and Peugeot Motocycles (PMTC), part of the Euro 54 billion PSA Group based in France have completed the necessary formalities for MTWL's 51% acquisition in PMTC.
This project was announced on 7 October 2014. The acquisition, which resulted in the satisfaction of all regulatory, legal and financial conditions of the agreement, was completed smoothly by both parties within a very short span of time. As part of the employee dialogue process and Anti-trust law, the Works Council consultation process has also been successfully completed.
Under the terms of the agreement, MTWL has infused Euro 15 million into PMTC to finance projects implemented through the strategic partnership and has also bought shares held by PSA which would allow MTWL to take a 51% stake in PMTC. The new board of PMTC has constituted and would include three members of MTWL and two members of PSA.
PMTC (Peugeot Scooters), a key player in urban mobility in Europe for 116 years, is the oldest motorized two-wheeler manufacturer in the world. Peugeot Scooters offers one of the most comprehensive range of scooters and mopeds, from 50cc to 400cc, including the successful three wheeled scooter -Metropolis - in the European market.
Sesa Sterlite was down 0.10%. With reference to the news captioned "Corp Affair Ministry, I-T Department oppose Sesa Sterlite Merger", Sesa Sterlite after trading hours yesterday, 20 January 2015, said that a Special Leave Petition (SLP) challenging the Scheme of Amalgamation & Arrangement ('Scheme') under Sections 391-394 of the Companies Act, 1956, was heard on Monday, 19 January 2015, by the Supreme Court and the court has fixed the matter for final disposal on 28 April 2015. The scheme was implemented in August 2013 and the company is defending the matter in the Supreme Court. The SLC filed separately by the Commissioner of Income Tax (CIT), Goa and Ministry of Corporate Affairs have been clubbed together. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs had filed the SLP on the ground that the scheme is against public policy.
Praj Industries was down 2.87%. The company's consolidated net profit fell 48.32% to Rs 12.30 crore on 18.48% decline in income from operations to Rs 219.34 crore in Q3 December 2014 over Q3 December 2013. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 20 January 2015. The company's consolidated order backlog as on 31 December 2014 stood at Rs 1050 crore.
"The outlook remains strong in our core and emerging businesses, backed by a healthy order backlog and recent order wins. Our endeavor is to leverage core business and further scale-up emerging businesses, establishing ourselves as a key player in multiple sectors," said Mr. Gajanan\ Nabar, CEO & MD, Praj Industries.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley yesterday, 20 January 2015, said that the success of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is a game changer for the economy as it has provided the platform for direct benefits transfer (DBT) which, in turn, will help in plugging leakages in subsidies and thereby provide savings to the exchequer. As against the original target of opening bank accounts for 7.5 crore uncovered households in the country by 26 January 2015, banks have already opened 11.50 crore accounts as on date 17 January 2015 under PMJDY after conducting survey of 21.02 crore households in the country. Jaitley further said that so far 19 schemes out of 35 DBT schemes have been rolled-out across the country, including MGNREGS in 300 districts. The Finance Minister said that the state governments have also been requested to transfer cash/benefits directly in the bank accounts of beneficiaries thereby cutting layers in the delivery process.
Asian stocks were mostly higher. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore and Taiwan were up by 0.21% to 2.23%. Key benchmark indices in South Korea and Japan were down by 0.21% to 0.45%.
The Bank of Japan (BoJ) kept monetary policy steady today, 21 January 2015. The BoJ acknowledged that its 2% inflation target for this year is looking distant. It cut its core CPI forecast from 1.3% (in October) to 1%. Second, it extended the size of two lending schemes and expanded their size to 10 trillion yen from 7 trillion yen. The facilities enable financial institutions to borrow funds at a fixed rate of just 0.1% for four years.
US stocks ended flat yesterday, 20 January 2015, after the International Monetary Fund reduced its growth forecasts for 2015 and 2016, increasing speculation central banks would take more aggressive policy moves to spark economic improvement.
In Europe, the governing council of the European Central Bank (ECB) is scheduled to undertake monetary policy review tomorrow, 22 January 2015. The ECB may introduce a large-scale bond-buying program on 22 January 2015.
Meanwhile, uncertainties over the status of Greece including its possible exit from the eurozone are likely to persist until the early election in the country on 25 January 2015. Greece is set to hold snap elections on 25 January 2015 after it failed to elect a new president in a third round of voting late last year. The Greek leftist opposition party Syriza leads opinion polls ahead of national elections on 25 January 2015. Syriza has demanded debt relief from the eurozone and promised to roll back the austerity and reform measures that the country has undertaken in exchange for the international bailout that the government negotiated in 2012.
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