Key benchmark indices languished in the red in mid-afternoon trade in what was a lackluster session of trade so far. At 14:19 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 63.27 points or 0.24% at 26,426.29. The Nifty 50 index was currently down 22.10 points or 0.27% at 8,117.35. Weakness in global stocks weighed on investors' sentiment.
The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently down 0.1%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently down 0.14%. The decline in both these indices was lower than the Sensex's decline in percentage terms.
Overseas, European stocks edged lower in early trade. Most Asian stocks declined after Chinese government researchers see China's GDP growth slowing in 2017. China's economy will grow at around 6.5% year-on-year in 2017, according to a forecast from government think tank China Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) published today, 19 December 2016. CASS sees quarterly on-year growth of 6.5% in the first and second quarters, and 6.4% in the third and fourth quarters. China's economy has grown at 6.7% for the first three quarters of 2016.
US stocks closed lower on Friday, 16 December 2016, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average swinging to a loss, following reports that a Chinese warship seized an underwater US Navy drone in international waters off the coast of the Philippines. In the latest economic data in US, housing starts tumbled 18.7% in November, while the number is volatile, it pointed to a housing market recovery that remains choppy.
Wall Street stocks had surged since the presidential election in November. The gains have been attributed to expectations that Donald Trump's policy proposals, such as increased infrastructure spending, tax cuts and deregulation, will spur economic growth.
Back home, the market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On the BSE, 1,395 shares fell and 1,154 shares rose. A total of 153 shares were unchanged.
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Shares of power generation and power distribution companies gained on renewed buying. Torrent Power (up 0.72%), NHPC (up 0.01%), Tata Power Company (up 1.5%), Power Grid Corporation of India (up 0.19%), Reliance Infrastructure (up 3.3%) and Reliance Power (up 3.11%) gained. Adani Power declined 0.47%.
Shares of state run coal mining major Coal India rose 0.14% to Rs 288.60. The stock had hit a high of Rs 290 and a low of Rs 287.40 so far during the day.
NTPC rose 0.38%. National Aluminium Company (Nalco) declined 1.98%. Nalco and NTPC have entered into memorandum of understanding (MoU), for developing power projects and other business collaborations in India. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 16 December 2016.
Under the MoU, the companies will float a joint venture namely NTPC-Nalco Power Company (NNPC) to set up power plants. The first such power plant is planned at Gajamara, Odisha with a capacity of 2,400 megawatts (MW) (3X800 MW), at an estimated investment of Rs 14000 crore. The proposed super critical power plant with state-of-the-art technology will supply uninterrupted power to Nalco's smelter at Angul. The process for acquisition of 1,600 acres of land in Gajamara has already commenced.
Metal & mining stocks were mixed. JSW Steel (down 0.83%), Bhushan Steel (down 1.81%), Vedanta (down 0.69%), Hindustan Zinc (down 3.08%), and Tata Steel (down 0.28%) declined. Hindustan Copper (up 0.26%), Hindalco Industries (up 0.24%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 0.48%), Steel Authority of India (Sail) (up 0.19%), and NMDC (up 1.06%) gained.
JK Lakshmi Cement rose 1.79% after the company said it has received shareholders' approval to raise upto Rs 500 crore in one or more tranches on private placement basis to eligible investors. The announcement was made on Saturday, 17 December 2016.
The directors of the company appointed a debenture trustee and a share transfer agent for the proposed issue of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of upto Rs 300 crore on private placement basis.
Salzer Electronics rose 1.19% after the company said that it has secured a letter of intent worth Rs 18.70 crore from Energy Efficiency Services (EESL), a joint venture company of PSUs of Ministry of Power, Government of India for designing, manufacturing, supplying, installing, commissioning, testing and maintaining of lighting controls for installed LED streetlights in the urban local bodies viz. Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), Jalna (Maharashtra) and Jharkhand. The announcement was made during market hours today, 19 December 2016.
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