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Market turns positive on strong European cues

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Capital Market
Last Updated : Apr 08 2014 | 8:59 AM IST

Key benchmark indices turned positive in afternoon trade led by strong opening in European markets. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 3.31 points or 0.02%, up about 51 points from the day's low and off close to 51 points from the day's high. Index heavyweight and cigarette maker ITC hovered in red. Another index heavyweight, Reliance Industries (RIL) edged higher. The market breadth was positive.

State-run Bhel rose after the company, on a provisional basis, reported strong order inflows in the year ended March 2013. Bank stocks declined. Auto stocks were mixed.

A bout of volatility was witnessed in early trade as key benchmark indices regained positive zone and hit fresh intraday high after slipping into the red for a brief period after opening higher. The Sensex once again slipped into the red and hit fresh intraday low in morning trade. The Sensex continued to alternately move between gains and losses in mid-morning trade. The market extended intraday losses to hit fresh intraday low in early afternoon trade. Key benchmark indices turned positive in afternoon trade led by strong opening in European markets.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 203.18 crore on Friday, 5 April 2013, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

At 13:18 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 3.31 points or 0.02% to 18,453.54. The index fell 47.30 points at the day's low of 18,402.93 in early afternoon trade. The index rose 54.25 points at the day's high of 18,504.48 in early trade.

The CNX Nifty was up 1.55 points or 0.03% to 5,554.80. The index hit a low of 5,537.05 in intraday trade. The index hit a high of 5,569.20 in intraday trade.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1,045 shares rose and 948 shares fell. A total of 124 shares were unchanged.

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Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 19 stocks gained while rest of them fell. Bharti Airtel (up 2.81%), Cipla (up 1.98%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 1.91%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 1.62%), Tata Power (up 1.37%), Hindalco Industries (up 1.34%), Hindustan Unilever (up 0.99%) and GAIL (India) (up 0.90%), edged higher from the Sensex pack.

Wipro (down 3.34%), Sterlite Industries (down 1.68%), Larsen & Toubro (down 1.09%), TCS (down 1.04%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 0.70%), HDFC (down 0.65%) and Infosys (down 0.62%), edged lower from the Sensex pack.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) gained 1.24% at Rs 790. The scrip hit high of Rs 791 and a low of Rs 778 so far during the day. Shares of Reliance Communications jumped 6.03%. Reliance Jio Infocomm and Reliance Communications (RCom) on 2 April 2013 announced the signing of a definitive agreement for approximately Rs 1200 crore as one time indefeasible right to use (IRU) fees for sharing RCom's nationwide inter-city fiber optic network infrastructure. Reliance Jio Infocomm will utilize multiple fiber pairs across RCom's 1.2 lakh kilometres inter-city fiber optic network to provide a robust and future proof backbone for rolling out its state-of-the-art 4G services. As per the agreement, RCom will in turn have reciprocal access to optic fiber infrastructure to be built by Reliance Jio Infocomm in the future.

The agreement provides for joint working arrangements to be put in place immediately for upgradation of the optic fiber network to ensure seamless delivery of next generation services.

Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC declined 0.84% to Rs 289 on profit booking. The scrip hit high of Rs 293 and a low of Rs 285.65 so far during the day. The stock had hit record high of Rs 310.75 on 4 February 2013. The government raised the excise duty on cigarettes by about 18% on all cigarettes except cigarettes of length not exceeding 65 mm in Union Budget 2013-14, which was unveiled on 28 February 2013.

Bhel rose 2.76% to Rs 182.60 after the company said that as per provisional figures, its order inflows surged 42.69% to Rs 31528 crore in the year ended March 2013 (FY13) over the the year ended March 2012 (FY12). The company announced provisional earnings for FY13 during trading hours today, 8 April 2013. On a provisional basis, Bhel's net profit fell 7.88% to Rs 6485 crore on 1.02% increase in turnover to Rs 50,015 crore in FY13 over FY12. Profit before tax (PBT) fell 10.40% to Rs 9231 in FY13 over FY12.

Bank stocks declined. ICICI Bank fell 0.34%. ICICI Bank announces Q4 results on 26 April 2013.

State-run State Bank of India (SBI) declined 0.13%. SBI on 20 March 2013 said that the Executive Committee of the Central Board of the Bank, in its Meeting held on 20 March 2013, approved the issuance and allotment of 1.29 crore equity shares at Rs 2,312.78 per share to the Government of India (GoI) by way of preferential allotment.

Axis Bank slipped 1.35%. Axis Bank will announce its Q4 March 2013 results on 24 April 2013.

Bank of Baroda declined 0.33%. The bank has decided to revise interest rates on some term deposits of less than Rs 1 crore with effect from 6 April 2013. Interest rates on term deposits of some shorter maturity period of up to 1 year have been raised while those on deposits of above 1 year have been cut.

Among other bank stocks, Federal Bank (down 3.14%), Canara Bank (down 1.72%), Union Bank of India (down 1.61%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 1.25%), Punjab National Bank (down 1.24%), Bank of India (down 1.17%) and IDBI Bank (down 0.80%), edged lower.

However, HDFC Bank was up 0.23%. HDFC Bank announces Q4 results on 23 April 2013. IndusInd Bank (up 0.34%), and Yes Bank (up 0.48%), also edged higher.

Auto stocks were mixed. Maruti Suzuki India fell 0.89%, reversing Friday's (5 April 2013) 7.23% jump triggered by hopes a weaker yen currency would improve margins by reducing the costs of importing auto parts from Japan after the Bank of Japan (BOJ) unleashed unprecedented monetary expansion. The yen slid to a 3-1/2 year low against the dollar on Friday, after suffering its biggest one-day tumble since late 2008 on Thursday, on the back of the BOJ's radical campaign to attack deflation.

Maruti Suzuki imports raw materials from its Japanese parent Suzuki Motor. It also pays annual royalty on sales to the Japanese parent.

Maruti announced during market hours on Tuesday, 2 April 2013, that its total sales declined 4.8% to 1,19,937 units in March 2013 over March 2012. The company's domestic sales fell 4.3% to 1,07,890 units in March 2013 over March 2012. The company's exports dropped 8.9% to 12,047 units in March 2013 over March 2012

Tata Motors dropped 0.37%. The company's total sales (including exports) of Tata commercial and passenger vehicles in March 2013 were 72,712 vehicles. The company's domestic sales of Tata commercial and passenger vehicles for March 2013 were 69,160 units. Cumulative sales (including exports) for the company were 8.10 lakh units in FY 2013. Tata Motors announced the monthly sales data on 1 April 2013.

Ashok Leyland fell 0.23%. The company reported a 2% decline in total sales at 14,020 units in March 2013 over March 2012. However, sales of small commercial vehicle 'DOST' spurted 96% to 4,325 units in March 2013 from 2,211 units sold in March 2012.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) was flat at Rs 838.25. M&M's total automobile sales rose 11% to 51,904 units in March 2013 over March 2012. The company's domestic sales rose 11% to 49,225 units in March 2013 over March 2012. Exports for the month of March 2013 stood at 2,679 units. Sales of passenger vehicles (which includes UVs and Verito) rose 13% to 25,847 units in March 2013 over March 2012. Sales of 4 wheeler commercial segment, which includes the passenger and load vehicles, jumped 17% to 17,212 units in March 2013 over March 2012. Sales of 3-wheelers declined 5% to 4,831 units in March 2013 over March 2012. M&M announced the monthly sales data during trading hours Monday, 1 April 2013.

The company's domestic tractor sales declined 2.31% to 15,551 units in March 2013 over March 2012. The company's total tractor sales declined 0.43% to 17,330 units in March 2013 over March 2012. Exports jumped 20% at 1,779 units in March 2013 over March 2012. M&M announced the monthly tractor sales data during trading hours Monday, 1 April 2013. M&M said that the company maintained its leadership position in the Indian tractor industry during the year ended 31 March 2013 (FY 2013).

Bike makers gained. Bajaj Auto fell 0.81%. The company announced during market hours on 2 April 2013, that total sales fell 10% to 3.01 lakh units in March 2013 over March 2012. Motorcycles sales declined 11% to 2.67 lakh units in March 2013 over March 2012. Commercial vehicles sales fell 1% to 34,194 units in March 2013 over March 2012. Exports declined 6% to 1,01,374 units in March 2013 over March 2012

However, shares of Hero MotoCorp rose 0.10%.

The upside on the bourses may be capped as reduction of promoter stake to meet the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) mandated minimum public shareholding of 25% for private companies and 10% for state-run firms will result in supply of equity in the market over the next few months. As per the Sebi mandated minimum public shareholding rule, private-sector companies must cut founders' stake to adhere to the rules by 30 June 2013, while the deadline for state-run firms is 31 August 2013. PSU divestment will also add to share sale glut in FY 2014. The government has set a target of Rs 40000 crore from divestment of government stake in state-run firms and Rs 14000 crore from divestment of stake in non-government companies for FY 2014.

The next major trigger for the market is Q4 March 2013 results. The Q4 March 2013 corporate earnings season will begin around mid-April 2013. Infosys announces Q4 results on Friday, 12 April 2013. IndusInd Bank announces Q2 results on 18 April 2013. Cairn India announces Q4 results on 22 April 2013. HDFC Bank announces Q4 results on 23 April 2013. Axis Bank will announce its Q4 March 2013 results on 24 April 2013. ICICI Bank announces Q4 results on 26 April 2013. HDFC announces Q4 results on 8 May 2013.

On the macro front, the government will unveil industrial production data for February 2013 on Friday, 12 April 2013. Industrial production had risen 2.4% in January 2013, as against a contraction of 0.5% in December 2012.

The government will unveil data on the combined consumer price index for urban and rural India for March 2013 on 12 April 2013. Inflation based on the combined consumer price index for urban and rural India had edged up to 10.91% in February 2013, from 10.79% in January 2013.

The government will unveil data on the wholesale price index (WPI) for March 2013 on 15 April 2013. The annual rate of inflation, based on the monthly wholesale price index (WPI), edged up to 6.84% in February 2013 from 6.62% in January 2013.

The India Meteorological Department will issue its initial forecast of 2013 southwest monsoon in this month.

Reserve Bank of India Governor D. Subbarao said Saturday, 6 April 2013, said that the high fiscal deficit is a problem because it exacerbates inflation and impedes monetary policy transmission. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will announce the Monetary Policy Statement 2013-14 on 3 May 2013. The RBI cut its key policy rate viz. the repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.5% after a mid-quarter monetary policy review on 19 March 2013. The key macroeconomic priorities are to raise the growth rate, restrain inflation pressures and mitigate the vulnerability of the external sector, RBI said at that time. Even as the policy stance emphasises addressing the growth risks, the headroom for further monetary easing remains quite limited, the RBI said. The RBI said it will continue to actively manage liquidity through various instruments, including open market operations (OMO), so as to ensure adequate flow of credit to productive sectors of the economy.

On the political front, the Congress led UPA government has been reduced to a minority government, with DMK removing support to the government in March this year citing differences on the issue of atrocities on Tamils in Sri Lanka. Earlier, the Trinamool Congress withdrew support to the government in September last year as it opposed economic reforms. The Samajwadi Party (SP) along with its regional rival in Uttar Pradesh Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) provide outside support to the UPA government. SP has 22 MPs in Lok Sabha and BSP has 21 MPs.

The finance ministry in October 2012 announced a five-year plan to cut fiscal deficit. The government hopes to reduce the fiscal deficit to 3% by March 2017.

The second half of the Budget session of the Parliament begins on 22 April 2013. The Budget Session of the Parliament ends on 10 May 2013. The government has lined up a number of key bills for consideration and passing during the Budget session of the parliament, which include The Forward Contracts (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2010, The Pension Fund Regulator and Development Authority Bill, 2011, The Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011, The National Food Security Bill, 2011 and The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2008.

Assembly elections will be held in Karnataka on 5 May 2013 and the counting of votes and results of the election will be declared on 8 May 2013.

Key benchmark indices in Europe edged higher in early trade. Key benchmark indices in UK, France and Germany were up by 0.30% to 0.76%.

Most Asian stocks dropped on Monday after China reported more infections from a deadly new strain of bird flu. Key benchmark indices in China, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan shed by 0.25% to 2.39%. Key benchmark indices in Japan and Hong Kong rose by 0.15% to 2.8%.

China tried to ease concerns that a new strain of bird influenza will spark an epidemic as authorities reported three more infections of the deadly H7N9 virus that's killed six people since March.

Japan rebounded to a current-account surplus in February as a depreciating yen and record monetary stimulus boost the outlook for a revival in the world's third-biggest economy. The surplus, the first in four months, was 637.4 billion yen ($6.5 billion), the Ministry of Finance said in Tokyo today.

Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow may rise 11 points at opening bell on Monday, 8 April 2013. US stocks fell on Friday after the government reported a sharp slowdown in hiring last month that was far worse than economists had expected. US employers added just 88,000 jobs in March, the Labor Department reported. That's half the average of the previous six months.

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First Published: Apr 08 2013 | 1:23 PM IST

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